


The Darkness Over Bluemere

by ifishouldfall



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, BAMF!Cas, BAMF!Dean, BAMF!everyone, Bonding, Canonical Character Death, Complete, Cuddles, Cuddling, Destiel - Freeform, Eventual Happy Ending, Fluff, Happy Ending, I hope you enjoy it, I'm Sorry, I'm bad at tags, It's finally over, John Winchester's A+ Parenting, Kissing, Marking, Multi, My First Destiel Fanfic, PRAISE THE LORD, Please Don't Hate Me, Prince!Cas, Prince!Gabriel, Sabriel - Freeform, What Was I Thinking?, and stuff, aw, basically i'm sorry for this fic, cute stuff, eventually, i finally finished it, soul mates, wing!fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-09
Updated: 2014-10-13
Packaged: 2018-02-08 04:31:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 21,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1926702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ifishouldfall/pseuds/ifishouldfall
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Years ago, the angels came to Earth to fight the Darkness from the humans. In a land called Bluemere where Angels rule and protect the city from the Darkness, the walls around the village are slowly becoming weaker.</p><p>Dean has always been different, but when he comes of age, there is something even more strange about him. Prince Castiel has never wanted to find his mate, and he hates how he is so different from his family.</p><p>Will their differences bring them together in time to stop the oncoming Darkness?</p><p>***COMPLETE***</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! So this is my first ever fic! I really hope you enjoy it and love it as much as I do!  
> Don't forget to leave kudos and comments for motivation ｡◕‿◕｡
> 
> http://sassy-cassbutt.tumblr.com/

The angels have lived among humans for hundreds of years. Their kind brought power and hope to the villages that were diminishing due to the Darkness. In one small corner of the world, in a place the humans called Bluemere, the angels purged the city of the worst case of Darkness they had ever seen. They set up walls around the village, embellished with sigils and symbols, protecting the people from further attacks. The angel garrison that had cleansed this city had spent time there after the battle, healing the townspeople and rebuilding homes. The King of Bluemere was enchanted by one of the angels, a beautiful woman with gold bright wings and a halo of white blonde hair that flowed past her waist. They were married the next summer, and the angels and humans lived in harmony. The new Queen’s garrison lived in the castle and some of their other friends and family came to live in the city too. After a while however, the King fell ill, and a year after his death, the Queen re-married to another angel, one of whom she’s come to Bluemere with.

Many years passed in quiet bliss. The Darkness had not bothered the city for a long time, and the kingdom was thriving. Many generations had passed since the First angels came, and by now King Chuck was ruling alongside his wife, Queen Naomi. The Royal family were different, as they were the only ones left in the city that still had their wings. Many of the First angels who had stayed in the city had bonded and mated with humans, and their angelic features had slowly faded away. However in the Royal family, it was encouraged that they only bond with other angels, in order to retain some element of power. The present King and Queen had six children, all of whom had wings, varying in colours and size. Michael and Lucifer, the two eldest, both had a sort of snowy white colour to their wings, Michael’s wings however were tinted gold slightly. The second oldest child Ana’s wings were a similar shade of fiery red to that of her hair, and after her, Gabriel’s wings were the same golden colour of his father. The youngest children – Samandriel and Castiel both had wings that were inky black in colour, however Castiel’s wings almost looked blue under the bright midday sun.

The family was excited, for Castiel, who had always been the baby of the family, was finally coming of age. They would soon know who his mate would be and they were all excited for the festival that followed his coming of age. Each child once they had reached their maturity had had a festival held to celebrate the royal family becoming extended. Each child had looked forward to it, all except Castiel.

 

 

_-Dean-_  
Dean woke to the sound of metal crashing against metal, and rolled over with a sigh. He opened his eyes and squinted against the harsh light pouring in from the small window across from his bed. He felt a familiar clammy feeling and an unwelcome itching sensation running down his right arm. He peered over to the other side of his room, towards his brother’s bed, which was currently unoccupied.

“Sammy?” he croaked out. No reply came, so he crawled out from under the covers, throwing on a dark green tunic over his bare chest, followed by a pair of loose fitting trousers.

He headed out of his room, expecting to find one of his brothers or sister sitting in the small kitchen of his family’s hut, but it was empty.  
A louder clang of metal sounded from outside and he heard a shriek followed by loud giggles. Dean followed the sound out of the front door just as his youngest brother Adam came crashing into him.

“Dean, Dean! Help! Jo’s chasing me!” Adam giggled, bright eyes staring up at him. Dean quickly scooped him up into his arms. “What have I told you about running off without me or Sammy?” Dean scolded, but was quickly cut off by a blur of blonde hair and Adam being pulled from his grasp.

“Jo put me down!” Adam pouted.

“Nuh uh little one, you need to finish cleaning up the mess you made” Jo pointed towards the barn behind the hut, staring down at him until he stalked off with a huff. “He’s getting to be a little menace” she said, turning back to face Dean.

“He’s 7 Jo, what do you expect?”

Dean followed where Adam had gone, and inspected the damage his littlest brother had made. There were half-finished shields and sword hilts strewn across the straw covered floor, and Dean sighed. He found Sam, sorting tools back into a large wooden box.

“Adam you know you’re not supposed to play with this stuff, Bobby will kill you-” he began, before a shrill cry came from back inside the house cut him off.

“Leave it Dean, I’ll help him out” Sam said, gesturing towards the house “You sort that out”.

“Now what” Dean muttered under his breath before heading back towards the house. He ran inside, panic bubbling up inside his chest. “Jo? Where are- JO!”

Dean stopped short when he reached his sister’s room. Jo was sitting on the floor clutching her arm to her chest with an expression on her face Dean perceived to be pain.

“What is it Jo? Did you hurt yourself? Here let me see-“Dean grabbed at her wrist, and realised that the look she was wearing was not one of pain, but one of shock. His own eyes widened as he looked back up “Jo… this is great! We should go tell Bobby and your mom!”

Jo looked from Dean’s face slowly down to her wrist. The delicate skin that was once undisturbed now was adorned with inky black writing. She had known this day was coming, of course she had- she was of age now. About a week after her birthday, she had felt an odd clammy sensation, which her mother had told her meant her body was getting ready to accept her ‘mark’. The ‘mark’ years ago exclusively happened to angels, but since the city of Bluemere had integrated the angel’s years ago, it happened to the humans too. Around the time of their 18th birthdays, the skin a young adult’s wrist became adorned with the name of their soul mate, which they would have to find before their 35th birthday, before the possibility to bond with their mate ended and their ‘mark’ faded away.

“Dean… I’m younger than you. Why has this not happened to you yet? Is there something wrong with me? Was it supposed to happen yet? I-“Jo started, but Dean quickly cut off her babbling by pulling up the sleeve of his tunic to reveal his right arm. Jo looked down and lined her wrist up against Dean’s. She could see the dark patterns formed upon the pale skin, looking between the two. But there was something strange about Dean’s mark. She could clearly see the name that was scrawled on her skin, but there were strange markings that she could not decipher on Dean’s. He sighed and looked up to look at her

“No, Jo… I got mine too. But if there’s something wrong with either of us… I think it might be me”.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here's chapter 2 guys! i'm really excited to see where this story goes, and i'd like to thank my wonderful beta underneathitall (http://archiveofourown.org/users/underneathitall/pseuds/underneathitall) for the encouragement and help so far!
> 
> don't forget to check out my tumblr http://sassy-cassbutt.tumblr.com/

***Three weeks later***

 

_-Castiel-_

Castiel sat cross legged on the floor of his large bedroom, staring at his reflection in his full length mirror as he fixed a few stray feathers in his raven black wings. He looked towards the open window where the light summer breeze was ruffling the rich red curtains that hung there. He sighed, and looked down at his wrist, faint black lines swirling into letters he could not yet distinguish.

“Castiel hurry up and come out of your room right now! Don’t make me blast this door open!”

Castiel hurried from in front of the mirror, running his hands through his messy black hair, and ran to open his bedroom door. The last thing he needed was Gabriel using his powers to blast open his door again, last time he had tried that Castiel had to have his door replaced.

All the angels that lived in Bluemere had powers that they could use for various tasks. The ‘common’ angels that lived in the villages with the humans tended to have specialised powers, such as strength or speed. The Royals however had much more power, and they could perform any task they wished.

An angel’s power was present from birth. Castiel however, had never showed any inclination that he possessed such powers.

Castiel unlocked the door was greeted by multiple pairs of arms pulling him into an awkward hug. Once released, he blinked up at his siblings and blushed.

“Cassie come on the festival is going to start soon and you need to be there” Anna glared at him and started straightening his silk shirt.

The festival was a Royal tradition for the children who had come of age. A week after the child’s 18th birthday, a week-long festival would be held, where by the last day the Royal’s Mark would be fully formed and the name of their soul mate would be announced.It was an exciting time, but Castiel was not looking forward to it. He did not want to find his mate, nor did he want to bond. He simply wanted to sit in the castle’s library and read to his heart’s content. He did not feel the need for human contact, but through tradition and for the sake of the kingdom, he had to.

He was led outside by his siblings, onto the large balcony at the front of the castle that overlooked the city. Coloured flags and festival dancers created swiftly moving rainbows on the sandy coloured ground below, spreading from around the castle all the way to the Wall surrounding the city. He could see the townspeople laughing and dancing, eating food and talking to each other - all probably discussing him and his mystery soul mate - and despite himself Castiel felt a surge of excitement. Maybe he could find a way to enjoy himself after all.

 

 

_-Dean-_

“Adam stay in sight and don’t you dare run away from Sam and Jo!” Dean placed the squirming 7 year old down onto the ground.

Adam had a tendency to get swept up in the excitement of festivities and at the last Prince’s festival – Gabriel’s, if Dean remembers correctly – Adam had gotten lost within the first hour of arriving and had taken Dean Jo and Sam until nightfall to find him, sitting with another boy around the same age as him, eating an entire hoard of candy that had been taken from the stalls dotted around the castle. Adam had claimed that his friend – Alfie – had friends who worked on the stalls and had given them the candy.

“Sorry no can do, I have business to attend to. You’re on your own today Sammy”

Jo winked and turned to walk into the ever growing crowd. Before she could become fully engulfed into the people however, Dean grabbed her by her wrist.

“And what exactly would that business be?” Jo pulled her wrist from Dean’s grasp and held her wrist to her chest , looking up at Dean with a coy smile on her face.

“I’m going to find my bond mate today” With that, Jo spun off with a flurry of blonde hair and with a wave, called over her shoulder. “I’ll meet you back at the house tonight… maybe!”

Dean sighed and rubbed his face, before turning to his two brothers.

“Sammy I’m sorry but I have to go and find Bobby”

“It’s fine Dean, me and Adam will go and have fun today, won’t we buddy?” Sam glanced down to where Adam was clutching onto the rough fabric of his trousers, wide eyes staring up at him.“Are you going to be long?” He said, looking back towards Dean. Dean just looked down towards his feet, scuffing the floor with his shoes and mumbling something that sounded like “I don’t know”.

Dean had always been very secretive about his feelings, ever since That Night. The night his parents died in a house fire because his father had been too drunk to notice the boys that bullied Dean in the village’s training school had been messing around outside their house, holding torches and throwing rocks towards Dean and Sam’s bedroom window. Adam had only been a very small baby at the time, a few weeks old at most, and had been asleep in Mary’s bedroom with her. He was too drunk to notice that Dean was trying to protect his family by running outside and punching one of the boys in the face, failing to notice another one of the boys slipping past him to use his torch to light the straw roof of the Winchester house on fire. Dean had run inside to grab Sammy and Adam, but Mary had stayed to try and drag John’s liquor-soaked self out of the house, but hadn’t managed to get out before the flaming house collapsed, consuming their childhood memories, their belongings, and Dean’s happiness.

Bobby, as always, knew what to do. He took the three orphaned boys in as his own, shortly after having married Ellen Harvelle, taking in her daughter Jo also. Together, Ellen and Bobby raised all 4 children as their own, and Dean began to gain control of his own happiness again. He found happiness through protecting the ones he loved, and as soon as they were old enough, both Dean and Jo joined the upper training school, that graduated into The Guard, paid for by Bobby himself. Dean had insisted that once he was able, he would pay Bobby back, not only for the training school, but for giving him his life back. Bobby had refused any kind of material repayment, but had only asked for Dean to confide in him, and start opening up and asking for and accepting help when he needed it.

And that was what he was going to do now.

Dean had spent most of the last week hiding his wrist and his Mark through wearing long sleeved tunics, or if it was a particularly hot day, he would wear a leather strap bound around his wrist. At night, when he was sure Sam and Adam were soundly asleep in their beds opposite his, he would light his bedside candle and run his fingers over his Mark, wondering what could have gone wrong. The Mark didn’t bear a name – or if it did it wasn’t any name he had heard of before. Hell, it wasn’t even in a language he understood. He had been dwelling on it for weeks, but it was time to ask for advice.

Dean arrived at the blacksmiths where he knew Bobby had a shift today. He worked at the villages mechanic and also often helped out at the blacksmiths on days like today when the other people who worked there wanted to attend the festivities. He walked through the small shop and found Bobby sitting out back drinking a flask of beer, obviously on a break.

“Hey Bobby”

“Son, I was wondering when you were going to show yer face” Dean sat down on the step next to him, and looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“Wha-“

“Don’t bother with yer yapping I knew something was up the second your Mark started showing. You’ve been wearing long sleeves or that damned wrist strap; you didn’t think I would notice did you? Damnit boy I know you. What’s the problem? Is it someone bad? It’s not that crazy Becky girl is it? The one that’s obsessed with angels? Or is it Sam she’s obsessed with this week”

“No Bobby… God no it’s not Becky. It’s… worse? I don’t know” Dean trailed off, sighing. He held his breath, steeling himself before unfastening the wrist strap and letting it fall to the floor. He held out his wrist for Bobby to inspect, not daring to look at his reaction. Bobby took held of his hand, and Dean could feel him twisting and turning his arm, as if to get a better look at the Mark from all angles. After what felt like an eternity, Bobby stilled, let out a strangled noise and dropped Dean’s wrist as if it personally offended him. Shocked, Dean picked up the leather strap and secured it back around his wrist before cradling it to his chest.

“Bobby? What is it?” Dean asked, his voice trembling.

“Dean, this isn’t good.” Bobby stood up and huffed, running his hands over his face and scratching at his beard.

“Why? What is it? Bobby talk to me” A million questions raced through Dean’s head. What did he mean this was bad? This was supposedly only the name of his Soul Mate, his Bond Mate, the person he was supposed to spend the rest of his god forsaken life with. He deserved something good, something to make him happy and to take him from all the crap he has already put up with in his life, not more complications.

“Dean… That there? Your Mark? Do you know what language it’s in?”

So it was in a different language. Dean laughed silently to himself, before shaking his head. _“Freaking called it"_

“It’s Enochian. The language of the angels, specifically used by the royals”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here's another chapter for you guys! i'm really enjoying writing this so let me know what you think!
> 
> tumblr - http://sassy-cassbutt.tumblr.com/

_-Castiel-_

“Dear, dear Cassie, what are we going to do with you?”

Gabriel ruffled Castiel’s hair fondly, a smirk on his face. They were due to go back out onto the balcony within the hour so that Castiel could announce the name of his Soul Mate, and currently sat on the edge of Castiel’s bed, where he had retreated to when he noticed the time getting closer to the announcement.

He huffed nervously in response, weakly pushing Gabriel in the chest in an attempt to get him away. Gabriel responded by wrapping his arms and wings firmly around his younger brother, effectively smothering him.

“Gabe I can’t breathe as it is, you are really not helping”

“Don’t worry little one, you’ll be fine, and we’ll find your mystery lover soon enough!”

Anna came into the room now, batting Gabriel away from Castiel with one quick knock of her wing into the side of his head. Gabriel quickly backed off, rubbing his head and wincing.

“Excuse me that wasn’t very nice. Castiel honestly, why can’t you tell me and Anna? You know we’re _dying_ to know”

“Yes well brother, you and Anna can find out when I announce it, like everyone else” Castiel said firmly.

Castiel had been very secretive about his Mark. All of the angels in his family as far back as he can remember Marks had formed in Enochian. In the kingdom, it was seen as marking them as ‘pure’, as many of the First angels who came to live in Bluemere and bonded with humans, the Mark slowly turned to plain English when they came into the mix. The Royals however had prided themselves on being pure.

Castiel however was afraid. His Mark had appeared in English. He thought at first it would change into Enochian over time, however he was very, very wrong. It only grew brighter, standing out against delicate pale skin, and Castiel had become accustom to wearing bands of ribbon or leather around his wrist to hide it.

It wasn’t that he was embarrassed – or was it? He had no idea how it was possible his Mark would not be in Enochian. What would his family think when they saw it? His family said nothing about Castiel’s attempts to hide it from them; they simply thought it was because it was he wanted to keep it a surprise for them. Well, it would be a surprise all right.

A knock came at the door, and Gabriel went over to open it. He spoke in hushed tones to whoever was the other side, and spun round suddenly, making both Castiel and Anna jump.

“Brother dear, it’s time. Let’s go make that announcement” with a wink, Gabriel spun towards them, bowing into a grand gesture.

Anna laughed and patted him on the head as she walked past, and Castiel shook his head as Gabriel wiggled his eyebrows at him, walking past him into the corridor. He took a deep breath to steel himself, raised his head, held back his shoulders, and walked with a proud demure through the balcony doors and out into the open where the rest of his siblings, and parents were already standing.

The king pulled his youngest son into a tight, brief hug, and the Queen rubbed her wing against Castiel’s in a comforting gesture as the King stood at the front of the balcony to address the waiting crowd, which had begun to gather in order to hear the announcement around noon.

“People of Bluemere, my youngest son has come of age and as you all know, it is time for him to announce the name of his Soul Mate. Like many of my other children, he may not find his mate straight away- “he shot a pointed look at Gabriel, who just grinned and shrugged, waving his father off, which earned a laugh from the crowd “- but I say this on behalf of the kingdom my dear boy, may you find happiness” the crowd cheered and clapped, and Castiel took this as his cue to step forward.

“Thank you father” he whispered over his shoulder.

His eyes raked over the crowds, looking at each individual face, once face catching his eyes. Sandy blond hair, a smattering of freckles over delicate features and the greenest eyes Castiel had ever seen in his life. With shaking hands, Castiel unfastened the deep blue ribbon from around his wrist – he had picked it out specially for this day, to match his shirt – and as it fell to the floor he heard the collective gasp of his family from behind him, but he couldn’t let that phase him now. Castiel rubbed his thumb absent mindedly as he cleared his throat.

“Dean. My Soul Mate’s name is Dean”

 

 

_-Dean-_

This couldn’t be happening.

No no no this could NOT be happening. First, Bobby tells him his Mark is written in Enochian, an ancient language used by angels, currently used by the Royals of Bluemere, and now the youngest – most gorgeous prince Dean has ever laid eyes on – has announced that his Soul Mate’s name is Dean.

It couldn’t be him, could it? It had to be him. How many other Dean’s lived in Bluemere? None he could think of. But when Castiel had looked at Dean from the Balcony he had felt a strange tingling feeling in his right arm, as well as in the back of his head. No, not the back of his head, more like the back of his mind. It stunned him, which of course was why he must have not noticed about a hundred pairs of eyes turn to look at him. It didn’t surprise him, he was well known in the city for being the best fighter in the training school.

Dean looked beside him to see Jo, Sam and Adam all staring at him with awe on their faces.

“Does he mean you Dean?” Adam asked from behind Sam’s leg. “You have to go over there! You have to go to the King!”

But before Dean could reply to his youngest brother the crowd had parted, and Dean looked up to see what was about to happen. What he didn’t expect, was for the two eldest princes – Michael and Lucifer – to walk right up to him.

“You are Dean Winchester, correct?” it was Michael addressing him.

“Yes uh… Yes your Grace. That would be me”

“Excellent. We would like to escort you and your family to the castle. If, of course, that would be okay with you?”

Dean looked to his siblings for help. Sam and Adam looked at him with wide eyes, mouths slack. Jo however, was grinning from ear to ear.

“He’d love to your Grace; I’ll go and get out parents”. Thank god for Jo, she seemed to be the only one around here with her head screwed on at the moment, Dean felt sure of it.

He watched as Jo ran back into the crowd where Ellen and Bobby were already beginning to walk toward the two families. He turned back to face the princes and cleared his throat.

“So uh… What’s going to happen? I-in the castle I mean?”

“Well Dean, as you must be aware; you are the only ‘Dean’ living in Bluemere. It is not unheard of for one’s Soul Mate to life in a different kingdom, however it is very rare. We will escort you and your family to the castle, where you will be taken into a private court with the King and prince Castiel. Your family will join the rest of us in the family room, where we will discuss living arrangements etcetera”

“Wait, living arrangements? I won’t be living at home?”

“Yes, that is, if it is you who is to be Castiel’s Soul Mate”

Panic, fear and confusion bubbled up into Dean’s chest. The princes are standing in front of him and he has no idea what to do. Prince Castiel announced his name as his Soul Mate, and judging by the damn Enochian Mark he has, this is no coincidence. He can feel bile rising in the back of his throat. Sure, prince Castiel was good looking – hell he was gorgeous – but a Royal? How was Dean supposed to be good enough for him? What if Castiel didn’t like him? There were too many ‘what ifs’ for Dean’s liking, and as if Sam could sense it, he put a reassuring hand on Dean’s shoulder.

“It’s going to be fine Dean. I promise”

By this time, Ellen, Bobby and Jo had reached them, and Lucifer ruffled his wings in anticipation.

“Let’s go meet the family” He spun round with a laugh, pure white wings splaying out either side of him. The crowd watched with a mix of amusement and amazement at the sight, and Dean started.

Was his Soul Mate going to have _wings_? It was something he had never even dreamed of, and his mind wandered to how they would feel if he ran his hands through them. Would they be course, like his horses coat? Or would they be soft, like Adam’s cats?

He was so lost in thought he hadn’t noticed that they’d reached the castle doors.

Dean – like his family – watched with wide eyes as Michael put his hand up to the handle of the giant door, and uttered an Enochian incantation as a beam of white light pulsed from his hand and the great doors opened.

He walked in, followed by Lucifer, and the human family stumbled over their feet to follow.

 

 

_-Castiel-_

Castiel paced up and down in front of his father in the great hall, wings flaring out behind him.

“What if he doesn’t like me? I don’t have magic like the rest of you! What if he thinks I’m odd? What if he doesn’t think I’m good enough?”

“Castiel, my son, calm down. You are special. He will love you for who you are, not what you can do”

“But-“

He was quickly cut off by the sound of knocking on the door.

“Enter”

The door opened, revealing Lucifer, a mischievous grin across his face. He bowed low, wings spread out either side of him. Behind him, Castiel could see another figure standing.

“Father, Castiel, may I introduce to you Dean Winchester”

He stepped aside to let Dean through the door, and Castiel caught his breath. The man that walked through the door was the same gorgeous man that he had noticed amongst the large crowd at the announcement. He felt his pulse quicken as blue eyes met green, and the familiar tingle went from his right arm to his very core. He flinched slightly at the sensation, and noticed Dean did the same. Castiel stared, not realising that Dean may have felt the same thing. Dean looked at him in shock, and there was now a warm feeling pressing at the back of Castiel’s mind.

“Hello Dean”

 

 

_-Dean-_

“Hello Dean”

Good god, Castiel’s voice was like heaven, deep and gravelly, it made his toes curl up and his heart beat fast.

“Hello, Cas- um, your Grace”

“Please, you may call me Castiel”

“Cas, then”

They shared a small, shy smile, before the king cleared his throat.

“Well Dean Winchester, we’re hoping you here will be able to answer some of our unanswered questions. But first of all; your Mark. Is Castiel here _your_ Soul Mate?”

Dean shifted uncomfortably on his feet, looking down towards his wrist, where it was covered with his leather band. He looked at Castiel’s wrist, which he noticed was covered by a deep blue ribbon, the same shade as his silk shirt. He swallowed, sadly reminded of Castiel’s wealth, compared to his own poor existence.

Brought back to the present, he pulled the leather strap off his wrist and held it out towards the prince and the King. He didn’t look at their expressions, only continued to look towards the floor.

“Dean…” Castiel sighed, and Dean felt the prince take his outstretched hand, and much like Bobby had, twisted and turned his wrist to inspect the Mark.

The sudden contact between the two caused Dean to look up to the prince with a jolt, as a burst of bright heat pulsed at the back of his mind and shot down his arm to his very fingertips, as if trying to jump to Castiel.

The prince looked back at him and Dean couldn’t help but stare into his eyes. _“Must be a trick of the light”_ Dean thought, but as he looked closer, he was certain there was a glowing light to the bright blue of his eyes, and the sight made his heart beat a tattoo into his ribs.

“Um, yeah. It’s Enochian. Or, that’s what I’ve been told. I’m not really sure why it’s in Enochian… I kinda thought that was your thing-“

Dean’s ramblings were cut short when Castiel dropped his hand, and with an expression he could only describe as excitement, pulled off the ribbon from around his wrist. He stared as it fell to the floor, eyes raking back up to the prince’s wrist. His breath caught and he could have sworn his heart stopped beating when he saw his name etched upon the soft skin, in English. He glanced up at Castiel, eyes full of questions, and was answered with a small shrug.

“Yes, your Grace. I guess I am”


	4. Chapter 4

_-Castiel-_

Castiel grinned from where he stood beside Dean, up to where his father was seated on the throne at the other end of the room.

“Well, now I have even more questions, but first, I think we should go and talk to both our families, and make sure Gabriel hasn’t killed anyone”

Dean laughed a deep, nervous sounding laugh, and to try and calm him Castiel instinctively grasped his hand and attempted to reach out his wing to rub it soothingly against Dean’s wing- _“Oh, right. Dean doesn’t have wings”_ Castiel internally scolded himself and drew his wing back into his own body, a faint blush creeping across his cheeks. He looked to Dean, who was staring down at their entwined fingers, and he felt his blush grow stronger. Castiel attempted to untangle his fingers, but was surprised when Dean did not pull away, only holding on to his hand tighter. He felt his heart swell with a warm feeling, and smiled to himself.

They followed the King out of the Hall and into a corridor. Castiel watched with adoration in his eyes as Dean looked at his surroundings with wide eyes, as they walked into a large, open room with lots of comfortable chairs and cushions scattered across the floor. This is the room that Castiel’s family spent the majority of their time when they weren’t holed up in their rooms or in the kitchen. There were plenty of places to go in the castle, as well as in the city outside, but the Royal children preferred to spend most of their time in their respective rooms, or annoying each other elsewhere in the castle.

Today however, not only were his own siblings seated in their favourite spots, but Dean’s family too were scattered across the room, each with a matching look of amazement that Castiel had noticed on Dean.

The sight of the two families; talking together and laughing made Castiel grin with pride. If this was it, if Dean truly was his Soul Mate, then this was his new family. He couldn’t stop the giggle that escaped from his mouth. Dean looked at him and raised an eyebrow, but quirked a crooked smile and squeezed his hand gently.

The King cleared his throat and the people in the room looked round sharply. Dean’s family rose, and bowed.

“Please. You are family now. You need not bow or greet me with such pleasantries. You will call me Chuck and my wife Naomi. You will call my sons and daughter by their names and you will be accepted by all as our family. Dean, Castiel and I have had a conversation, and it is agreed that they are in fact, Soul Mates”.

Castiel looked around the room and basked in the feelings of _love_ and _family_ that filled the room. To his surprise, Dean was pulled out of his grasp and he whined at the loss of warmth by his side, looking to where Sam, Adam and Jo had huddled round Dean in a tight hug. Everyone else had engaged in excited chatter. Ellen, Anna and Naomi were all gushing over the two new Mates – probably discussing ceremonies and living arrangements- and he watched his father walk over and clap Bobby on the shoulder, joined by Michael and Lucifer. Everyone seemed to get along, and he felt a swell of pride in his chest. This was his new family.

Gabriel walked up beside Castiel and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“So _that’s_ your knight in shining armour” He said with a wink.

“Well, he _is_ part of the Guard- oh. It was a joke”

“Dear Cassie, let’s pray to the Gods that he’s not as clueless as you” and with that, his trickster brother sauntered off towards Dean, who was still wrapped in a familial embrace.

“Dean-o. A word?”

 

 

 

_-Dean-_

Gabriel led Dean to the far side of the room, next to an open window that overlooked the entire city.

“Dean. I wanted to y’know; give you a bit of an insight to the family. But first, let’s get formalities out the way, shall we?” Dean raised his eyebrow in a questioning manner. “Hurt Cassie, or do anything at all to put my family in danger, and I won’t hesitate to throw you in our dungeon” He smiled wickedly, and Dean gulped audibly.

“Um, yeah… Noted. What was the insight you wanted to give me?”

“Right. So, Luci and Mike over there can be a bit… overbearing. Always arguing them two, Sunday dinner practically turns into the apocalypse if you catch my drift. Then you’ve got Anna, who looks after Cassie most of the time, and then you’ve got me. I spend most of my time defusing Mike and Luci. It’s a struggle, but someone’s got to do it. One day Luci is gunna tear this kingdom apart, whether he means to or not” Gabriel trails off, and Dean doesn’t miss the almost sad look on the prince’s face. “Then, well you know Cassie. Or you’re going to. Go get him tiger, go have some bonding time, if you know what I mean. And remember what I said, hurt him-“

“Dungeons. Yeah, yeah Gabe, I got it”

“And don’t you forget it”

Dean walked back over to where Castiel was standing, the youngest prince visibly relaxing when he shyly brushes his hand against the back of Castiel’s, entwining their fingers once more. His attention was averted when Chuck walked over to the two, leaving Bobby with Lucifer and Michael.

“Castiel, I’m going to show our new family members to their living quarters”

“Wait, your Grace- Chuck I mean – what do you mean living quarters?” Dean was confused. He remembered Michael say something along those lines, but it hadn’t bothered him until now.

“Dean, you and your family will be living here. Ellen and Bobby will have their own room, as will Sam and Joanna, until they find Mates of their own, who would be welcome to join us. You and Castiel will be living in Castiel’s room. I hope that’s not a problem?”

“No of course not- but, what about our things? Our jobs?”

“Everything will carry on as normal son; you will just be living here. As for your things, I have sent people to collect them and bring them up to your rooms, they will already be waiting for you, you see; having magic has its perks”

A small, shy cough had the three spinning round, faced by Jo, looking slightly embarrassed.

“Chuck? Did you say our Mates could stay here? When we found them?”

Ellen, Sam, Bobby and the rest of the room turned to face the conversation, the room suddenly silent.

“Of course my child. Family is of course, family”

“Well then, may I ask… Could I bring my Mate here? Today?”

Ellen stood up and gasped, rushing towards her daughter.

“Joanna-Beth you found your Mate and you neglected to tell us?”

“Mom” Jo mumbled, looking at her feet. “I met her today. Her name is Charlie” She showed off her wrist proudly, embarrassment erased completely.

Ellen whooped with pride and swung her daughter round in a loving embrace, while Bobby looked on at the two with pride in his eyes. _“I could get used to all this, love-y crap”_ Dean thought to himself with a small smile. He looked over to Castiel, before leaning over to whisper in his ear.

“How about we go and explore a bit? Have some time to ourselves?”

Castiel looked at him, and Dean could have sworn his eyes were doing that glow-y thing again. _Damn._

 

 

 

_-Castiel-_

They lay on the floor in Castiel’s room staring up at the ceiling head to head and shoulders brushing, sorting through his small box of memories and treasures that he had collected since he was a small boy. They looked through photographs, shared memories, and Dean laughed at his tales of Gabriel’s tricks. Dean told him stories from growing up, about how he helped raise Sammy and Adam, and he was also surprised when Dean opened up so much to tell him about his Mother and Father. He felt honoured that Dean trusted him enough to let him in so deep, and so shortly after meeting. Castiel quickly realised how well they got on, and wondered if that was why they were Soul Mates, or because it was their knowledge that they were Soul Mates. Either way it didn’t matter to him. He could feel himself already falling for Dean, and he didn’t care to stop it. After what felt like hours of lying there, Dean spoke of something entirely different.

“Hey, Cas? Sorry if this comes out wrong but – what’s up with our Marks?” Castiel sighed. He’d known this question was coming, and yet still didn’t have an answer to give.

“I do not know Dean. I’m sorry I cannot give you the answers you are looking for, I can only offer that it could be something to do with the fact that I am the only Royal angel that lacks magic, and possesses a Mark in an entirely different language to the rest of my family” an idea hit Castiel and he blurted it out before thinking it through. “Dean, do you possess magic?”

Dean looked at him as if he had grown another two heads.

“Me? With _magic_? No, of course not, I’ve just got this weirdo Mark is all”

“Of course, I am sorry for being so brash. I didn’t think about it or how ludicrous it sounded”

Dean just laughed at him in response. They lay there for several more moments in companionable silence, laying side by side, hands and fingers tangled together, before Dean began to move. He propped himself up on one elbow, looking down at Castiel.

The Bond in the back of his mind buzzed, spreading warmth throughout his body, lighting every nerve on fire. He gulped, as Dean’s green eyes started at his own blue ones intensely. Without warning, Dean dipped his head and soflty pressed his lips against Castiel’s, and the second their lips touched – just like the first time he had grasped Dean’s hand – he felt the warmth in his body jump, as if trying to reach Dean. They both moaned in response to the sensation, deepening the kiss for only a second, before Dean pulled away and smiled shyly down at him.

“I think this is gunna work out between us, Cas”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! sorry for the later update, i had a lot of trouble with motivation recently .-. but the chapter is here now! enjoy!
> 
> http://sassy-cassbutt.tumblr.com/

_-Castiel-_

Castiel could barely believe his situation. He was laying on the ground, staring up at the most gorgeous man ever, his Soul Mate.

He blinked up at Dean, a blush creeping along his face and a smile sneaking onto his lips. Dean brushed his hand along the side of Castiel’s face, but tore his hand away as if he’d been burned and sat bolt upright when there was a crash on the door.

“Cassie!” Gabriel moaned from the other side “Why must you always lock the door?

Castiel sighed and sat up with a huff, before getting up and opening the door.

“For the exact reason you have just presented us with. I do not appreciate you barging into my room uninvited and without warning”

“Aw Cassie come on, you’ve been up here hours, what’s the matter? Didn’t want to be caught in a compromising position?” He directed a wink towards Dean.

“What is it you wanted, Gabriel?”

“Father wants to speak to Dean-o here. You can come too Casandra, but we have to go now”

 

_-Dean-_

Castiel looked at Dean and he could sense his fear through the Bond. He took his hand and dragged him out of his room to follow Gabriel down to the room that he and his family had been introduced to the new family in earlier. Cas had explained to him earlier that his family referred to it as the window room, as it had been named by a Royal about 400 years ago, when he built this part of the castle himself as he wanted a view of the kingdom while he sat in peace and warmth, so built a comfortable room with the whole of one wall taken up by a large window. When they entered, his father was standing in the middle of the room, looking out of the window. When he heard the group enter, he turned around.

“Thank you Gabriel. Dean, I would like to discuss your work with you, if that’s okay”

“Of course your- Chuck. What about it?”

“Well, I know that you are one of the most skilled members of the Guard-“Castiel looked over as he felt a strong sense of _pride_ in the Bond, and smiled.  “I also happen to know of the other work you do for it”.

The Guard was a group of Soldiers, both Angel and Human alike. It was created merely weeks after the First Angels came to Bluemere, when the Angels and a few Humans helped to build the wall and all its symbols and sigils to protect the kingdom for years to come. The Guard evolved into soldiers, who would go out and fight the Darkness when the sigils glowed bright, to warn the people that danger was imminent. The Angles taught the Humans how to fight and how to protect themselves. All members of the Guard were brandished by the head Angel of the Guard by his or her power, leaving a small mark above the soldier’s hearts, depicting a black star with a ring of fire encircling it. It was said that it would protect the soldier’s from the Darkness’s power over mind and body control.

Dean had always been thankful to Bobby and Ellen for sending him and Jo to Guard training, and knowing it wasn’t an easy feat to send two children there, he decided to give something back.

After his second week of training, he convinced Bobby to help him craft swords, shields, armour, and other battle equipment he had either used, or seen used at training. He used this to teach the younger kids in the town who didn’t have the money to be sent to Guard training. It was a bit rough and not quite perfect, but together with Jo and Sam (who often helped to give advice on battle tactics, and also show the students how to handle a smaller weapon – such as a dagger), they were able to give necessary skills to kids who otherwise wouldn’t have got any.  

“Yes sir. What about it?”

“I know that you don’t have the same equipment, or access to better grounds, therefore I would like to offer you continue your work here in the castle grounds. You may use the unused equipment from the Guard’s quarters, and of course- we will allow your students to eventually progress into the real thing. Does that sound adequate to you?”

Dean stammered, looking around the room at the beaming faced that smiled back at him.

“Wow, uh, yes. Thank you. Thank you so much”

The King chuckled, and clapped him on the back.

“Castiel, you may have him back now that business is sorted” and with that, Castiel tugged him out of the Window room and dragged him back to his bedroom.

 

 

 

*****6 months later*****

_-Castiel-_

“Dean if you don’t get your behind out of bed then so help me I will bring Gabriel in, and so help me _he_ will get you up”

Dean rolled over in bed and groaned, shielding his eyes from the bright light radiating from the bedroom window, before burrowing back down into the confines of the bed sheets.

“What is so important that we have to get up today? Why can’t we just spend the day in bed?”  he moaned from inside his cave.

“Dean, we did that yesterday. You have to get ready or you’re going to be late” Castiel chastised. “Up. Now. I mean it Dean.” The huddle on the bed shifted slightly, and then nothing.

“Fine. GABRIEL COME HERE”

Within seconds, Dean shot out from his safe place to stand beside Castiel, wrapping the sheets around his waist, but not before Gabriel appeared by throwing open the door, smiling menacingly.

“Dean-o are you messing Cassie about?”

“No he wanted- No. Get out Gabe I’m not wearing anything”

“Aw don’t be shy Dean” the older angel winked, but closed the door nonetheless. As soon as the door shut Dean visibly relaxed, and Castiel smacked him playfully with his wing.

“What did you have to call that dickbag for?”

“You wouldn’t get out of bed, Dean. You’re going to be late”

“What do I need to get up for again? C’mon Cas don’t look at me like that, I’m tired”

Castiel rolled his eyes and went over to the wardrobe that took up half of the wall opposite the door. He opened the door and pointed to the outfit that hung on the back of it. A black long sleeved tunic, with tight black trousers, and a thick leather chest piece; similar to a chest piece of metal amour.  He laughed silently to himself as he watch realisation wash over Dean’s face.

“Oh my god how could I forget? Crap, am I late? Cas help a man out here” Dean ranted, dropping the sheet and yanking his Guard uniform from the wardrobe door. Castiel stood, intending to help, but his eyes raked over Dean, miles of tanned skin and muscle, mottled purple marks scattering his chest like a constellation, reminding him of last night’s activities.

“Uh, Cas? Little busy to be thinking about that right now, aren’t we?” Dean winked.

“Right. Ahem, yes. Of course” Castiel held out each item of clothing as Dean reached for them. He turned round to allow Castiel to tie his chest piece in place, and turned back to face his angel with a grin.

“How do I look?”

“Like a true leader of the Guard”

Castiel knew that this would be a big day for Dean – it was a big day for him too. Dean had been working so hard for the Guard, with his own training and the lessons he taught, he had been appointed as the new leader of the Guard, replacing Lucifer.

Lucifer had been unwilling to carry on being the leader, as he had become too distracted. Nobody knew why, not even Castiel or his siblings – he wasn’t even sure his parents were aware of why – but Lucifer had become withdrawn from everything and everyone, not wanting to protect the Kingdom, only coming out of his room occasionally for food, but according to Pamela even that was in the early hours of the morning.

When Dean had gone to his family with the news, Castiel watched from the side lines as his family swelled with pride and he could feel his wings fluttering with pride too.

He led Dean from their bedroom to the kitchen, as Pamela – Castiel’s favourite maid – placed a plateful of food in front of him.

“Eat up big boy, this is a big ceremony. You’re gunna need your strength”

Castiel nibbled on the food around the edges of Dean’s plate, with Dean staring at him with a disgruntled look on his face.

“Hey, this is my food. You heard Pam, I need my strength”

He grinned at the sulking man, but allowed him to finish his meal uninterrupted, only placing his hand on Dean’s thigh in a comforting gesture. He knew that this was a big day for Dean, and could feel his nervousness and fear buzzing through the Bond in his mind. The simple touch between the two however, and Castiel felt the Bond slowly stop vibrating, as he focused _calmcalmcalm_ through to Dean, who sent a thankful smile his way.

He stood up abruptly, pulling Castiel with him, walking back towards the door and waving goodbye to Pamela.

“Come on Cas, let’s not keep the people waiting any longer”

“You go ahead Dean, I must go and make sure _everyone_ is present for this, I will go and drag Lucifer from his room”

 

 

_-Dean-_

_‘Holy crap’_ Dean thought to himself. This was it. The big moment.

He stood in the courtyard of the castle he had called his home for the past six months, his family behind him – both new and old, with the exception of Lucifer, who hadn’t emerged from his room in days, and Castiel, who should be arriving any time soon - , Chuck to his side, and the Kingdom in front of him.

“People of Bluemere” The king began “Dean Winchester has been a great asset to the Guard. You are all here today to join us in celebration as we welcome Dean as our new leader of the Guard”

Dean looked over the crowds, taking in the faces of all the people, clapping, cheering, and calling his name. _His_ name. He never would have dreamed of this. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Pamela run out into the courtyard and up to Michael, whispering something in his ear, before the two of them hurried back into the castle doors.

Chuck regained his attention as he walked up to him and clapped him on the back.

“You deserve this Dean” He reached up to pin a broach of some kind onto Dean’s leather chest plate. It resembled a star, with a ring of fire surrounding it. He touched the cool metal against his fingertips, a wide smile finding it’s way onto his face.

“May I present to you, Dean Winchester; leader of the Guard”

The crowd erupted into even louder cheers and whoops, and Dean found himself in amongst the arms of his family, tears of joy on their faces.

“You done me proud, boy”. Bobby’s pride threatened to send Dean over the edge and into tears too, but no. Dean was too manly for that.

The sound of doors crashing open and an angry cry tore Dean out of his happy bubble, as he pulled out of his embrace, turning to face the source of the noise.

Michael strode over to his father with a piece of crumpled paper in his hands. They spoke briefly, and Dean could see Chuck’s face pale, before fighting for composure and addressing the crowd once again.

“I need everyone who is a member of the Guard to get ready for duty _immediately”_ he fumed. He looked at Dean apologetically before continuing. “Lucifer has been conspiring with Croatoa in order to gain power for himself” he held the piece of paper that Michael had previously possessed, and dean racked his brains for ideas. ‘ _Was it a goodbye note? Why would he want anything to do with Croatoa? Where was Cas?’ Shouldn't he be here by now?_

Chuck’s voice broke as the composure he had tried to uphold before completely crumbled now.

“And it appears he has taken Castiel as a prisoner”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the long wait guys, having even more family trouble, bit worse this time (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻   
> i hope you enjoy this chapter, i'm really liking where it's going and writing this is proving a wonderful distraction for me!
> 
> http://sassy-cassbutt.tumblr.com/
> 
> i love you all (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

_-Castiel-_

“Lucifer? Luci, open the door, it’s me. You said you wanted to talk, and I’m here now. Hurry up brother, Dean’s ceremony will be starting shortly and I intend to be punctual”

Castiel knocked on the door, but when his fist collided, the door instantly opened. _Strange._ He entered his brother’s room and looked around him. It was not dissimilar to his own room, but vastly different at the same time. Lucifer’s room looked like a small tornado had crashed through it, clothes strewn everywhere, the curtains drawn to cast deep black shadows everywhere.

He squinted his eyes towards the shape on the bed, walking over to it; flapping his wings to keep himself balanced as he waded through the assault course on the floor. Before he could reach the bed however, a pile of letters on his brother’s desk caught his attention. He directed himself there instead, looking over the letters he found.

Hundreds of pieces of paper he guessed, as he sifted through them, trying to make sense of it. Had he been holed up in his room all this time, becoming moodier and moodier because of some girl? Were these love letters? He wouldn’t put it past his elder brother. Lucifer had always been one to attract many women; however his Mark claimed him to a girl called Ruby, whom he had not come across yet.

_“All in good time my son”,_ their father would say to them, but Lucifer was not so sure.

Just to check, he scanned the letters more closely, when _finally._ Castiel noticed that all these letters were in fact from a sender, signing with “your love, Ruby”. He smiled to himself, happy for his brother. It was as he looked down to the letters again, picking out words like _‘Croatoa’, ‘capture’, ‘powerless’_ and _‘advantage’_ , that Castiel heard a the door click locked behind him, and whirled around, dropping the letter in his hand and flaring his wings in surprise.

Lucifer stood in front of the door in a defensive position, wings sharp and dangerous. Before he could move again, Lucifer shot a hand out and in a pulse of bright white light and Castiel became immobile. Rigid, he fell to the ground, facing the ceiling.

“Brother, what-“

“Don’t talk Castiel. Do not make this worse for yourself. You see, I need you. I need your help.” Lucifer crossed the room to crouch over Castiel, face inches away from his own. He could smell a strange metallic smell on his breath. It reminded him of blood.

“You are coming with me brother. Forget your precious Dean. I can’t have this kingdom thanks to you. Michael will get reign after father, and then to you. All because you have your precious Dean and he has that stupid Rachel girl. Well fine, I don’t want this kingdom anyway. Bigger fish Castiel. Big plans for those fish” He stood up, and with a twist of his hand Castiel too was upright.

“Don’t go stepping on my fish Castiel. I wouldn’t want you to go ruining anything, because _you_ are going to help me make it happen”

Castiel didn’t like the sinister grin that was plastered over his once-loving brother’s face, or the way he spoke. His tone unnerved him, and the idea that his twisted plan of who-knows-what involved him in some way. He liked it even less as Lucifer raised his hand and brought it down over his head before everything went black.

 

 

 

_-Dean-_

The crowd erupted into shouts and cries, but dean couldn’t focus on any of it.

Why had he been so stupid? Why hadn’t he noticed Cas had been so long? Why hadn’t he dragged Cas’ ass to the ceremony with him? It was all his fault, and the crushing feeling of grief and guilt hit him like a tsunami in his mind.

“Dean. DEAN” Hands were on him, pulling him to his feet, he hadn’t even realised he had fallen to his knees. Everything was a blur as the same hands dragged him towards the castle. He didn’t care who the hands belonged to unless they belonged to Castiel, which they clearly didn’t.

What the fuck. What the actual _fuck_.

He was lead to his usual seat in the Window room, and he sat with his face buried in his hands. He realised the feeling in the back of his mind wasn’t his nerves, it was the overbearing sense of _loss_ and _fear,_ but Dean mainly noticed the lack of Cas in his mind.

He could usually sense not only Castiel’s feelings, but often snippets of his thoughts, like when he got overexcited about something, or felt any other emotion strong enough, Dean would be able to catch a few of Cas’ thoughts. It was a comforting thing, and now without it Dean felt strangely lost and alone; something he hadn’t felt in a long time.

Ever since he and Castiel had found each other, they immediately fell into a routine of being with each other, as well as falling instantly in love. Dean supposed that was what was meant to happen, but Jo had told him that not even she felt _quite_ this strongly about Charlie; her mate yet.

Dean looked up from his hands as Chuck entered the room, and crossed over to Dean, sitting beside him in the chair. He placed a hand on the knee Dean was restlessly bouncing up and down, as if to attempt to ground him; or himself. The whole family was gathered around the two, minus Lucifer and Castiel. Dean ground his teeth.

Chuck cleared his throat, before beginning to read out the letter that Michael had brought to him.

“ _Father,_

_I am sorry for all the pain that my actions will bring to the family, and possibly to the entire kingdom._

_Scrap that actually, I’m not at all sorry. In fact, I’m overjoyed that maybe, just maybe this will get you to listen._

_For years I played your lapdog, your good little boy. Not anymore, though. You couldn’t see what a great ruler I would be, or should I say will be. Just because Michael found Rachel, and Castiel has Dean, doesn’t mean that they will be any better at ruling Bluemere than I would be alone. So I’m going to take matters into my own hands._

_You see father, I have been made a deal. A deal that I will be graciously accepting, in fact. King Crowley, of Croatoa has offered to take me in as his own and one day rule, on one condition; I bring Castiel for his brother Alistair; as a play-thing of sorts._

_King Crowley has it all planned out, and I WILL BE king. Try and stop me, and I will not hesitate to kill you. All of you._

_Lucifer.”_

Dean exhaled a shaky breath that he didn’t even realise he’d been holding, and looked around to the teary faces of his family. Jo had slung her arms around Anna’s middle, who in turn threw her wings to hold her. Gabriel looked like he wanted to punch something or someone, and Sam placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Naomi and Ellen held hands, tears silently falling down Ellen’s face and choked sobs of grief rattled Naomi’s entire body. Bobby walked over to Dean, placing a hand on the top of his head, allowing Dean to lean against him. Michael spoke first, however.

“Alistair. ALISTAIR. He’s taken our baby brother to that MONSTER. Do you know what he does? Do you even know who he is?”

The angles in the room visibly paled, where the humans just maintained a confused look. Dean raised his head from his father figure, staring into the eyes of the angry angel.

“No, actually. I don’t. Who is he? Who is Crowley? What the hell is going on?”

Michael sighed, and flopped into a chair; exhausted. He began to tell the story of how when the First Angels came to Earth to fight off the Darkness, the Angel Queen had a brother. A twisted, evil brother; who followed the Darkness into the forest, deep, deep into the forest, before coming to a new city. The term _new_ being used lightly; the Darkness had already ravaged this city and killed all inhabitants. The Darkness invaded the bodies of the dead, bringing dead, rotting corpses a new lease of life, possessing the rotting meat to rebuild the city; creating Croatoa.  They begin to learn to fight back against the ever-powerful Angels. The Angel brother however, helped them. Showed them weaknesses, the easy targets, the most efficient way to kill. The Darkness began to learn, catching on quicker and quicker, lying in wait, ready to strike at any moment.

“That’s what they’re going to do, I guarantee it. Crowley is going to use Lucifer to allow the Darkness to try to overthrow us once again”.

“Very nice Michael, but how about you tell me the part about my god damn SOUL MATE being a play-thing?” Dean shot at him.

Running his hands through his hair, Michael began again.

“Alistair is almost, famous you could say, among angels. He is very powerful, and enjoys torture to a great extent. Me and Gabriel once found one of his… His victims, just outside the walls, on a Guard duty. It wasn’t pretty”

Dean gulped, his heart beating its way up into his throat.

“How do you know it was him though? How can you be sure it was the guy that wants Cas?”

“Because Alistair likes to leave an impression. He had managed to…”

“He cut out the guy’s heart, carved his name into it and put it in his hand when they left him outside the gate” Gabriel finished for him.

Dean stood immediately, the room spinning.

“We have to find Cas. We need to get him before Alistair does”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one is a bit shorter but i was too excited not to upload it now!  
> hope you enjoy it, i'm loving where it's headded!   
> good luck, you may need it.. (づ￣ ³￣)づ
> 
> http://sassy-cassbutt.tumblr.com/

_-Castiel-_

The first thing Castiel noticed when he woke up was the smell. Putrid and acidic, it clawed at his nostrils and made it difficult to breathe. He tried to move, but after a few futile attempts he realised that he was shackled to the walls. Wrists and ankles encased in iron shackles, wings bound with strong steel rope and iron chains; he was trapped, like a pig waiting for slaughter. He took in his surroundings as best as he could in the dim lighting, and noticed he was in what resembled a small dungeon. Dark, grimy walls around him, a distant sound of dripping water, things that made his pulse race and his head spin; but worst of all was the claw-like nail marks dragging their way down the walls beside him and in front of him, trailing down onto the floor.

“Ah good. You’re awake” a nasally voice that made Castiel’s wings tremble in fear spoke from the other side of the room. Castiel scrambled backwards and pressed himself as close to the wall behind him as he could, trying to make himself look small as possible as the ominous sound of footsteps got louder.

“Now we can have lots of fun” The man said, stepping into Castiel’s space, and through the slats in the door casting streaks of light upon him, he could see the cruel, twisted features of the man. Short, greasy hair, scraggly beard, crooked nose; features that made him look like a mad man. Worst of all, flecks of blood covered his face, focused around his mouth. Castiel averted his gaze to the man’s wings. _Wings. What on earth has Lucifer got himself into, what is he doing with these_ horrid _excuses for angles?_ He thought to himself.They were a grizzly sight. Dark red feathers; matted and clumped together, greasy, with patches where it looked like they had been pulled out. The sight made Castiel’s stomach churn and his eyes fill with tears of absolute terror.  

Castiel focused his attention on the strange man’s hands, in which he held a jagged looking blade, etched with strange symbols he had never seen before. The man dragged the tip of the blade over the flesh of Castiel’s face, tracing the delicate features, making him flinch.

“What – what do you want with me? Why am I here?” Castiel began to become hysterical, tears flowing hot and freely down his face now, mingling with the dried blood that seemed to be coming from his hairline and his nose.

“Castiel” He spoke, drawing out each syllable of his name “you are a very _fine_ specimen, aren’t you? Big, magical, _powerful_ family, and then there’s you. Nothing particularly special about you. I want to find out what makes you… tick” and with that, he plunged the blade deep into Castiel’s side, and once again, unconsciousness clouded him.

 

 

_-Dean-_

Despite shouts of protest from his family, Dean rushed to his and Castiel’s room, grabbed his essentials and threw them into a leather saddle bag. Storming past the Window room, down the concrete stairs and out the huge double doors, he marched into the outback shack that the Guard used before and after practice. To his luck, the place was empty. He grabbed his sword and sheath from the wall, a magnificent thing that Bobby had given him, encrusted with green stones – Peridot, like his eyes. It had been his mother’s, who was quite the nifty fighter herself. Before… well, thinking about that wasn’t really going to help his current situation, so he continued haphazardly throwing weapons into his saddle bag.

When he was satisfied that he would be able to seriously harm the bastards that took Cas, he headed towards the stable where his beauty of a horse; Baby was.

Baby had been John’s horse. After his mother died, Dean’s father had neglected her, and he took it upon himself to keep her well-kept. He had, after all, admired her from a very young age. He patted her behind as he walked into her paddock, promptly grabbing her saddle and tacking her up.  Tears pricked his eyes as he remembered the last time he did this; he had been taking Castiel on a surprise trip to a small clearing he’d found in the forest just outside the Wall when he was younger. It was the ‘safe place’ he went when his father got angry and he had to get away. Sometimes he took Sam and Adam with him, but their dad was never stupid enough to hurt them. Without Dean to take the fall, John usually went down to the local tavern to drown his sorrow in more ale and whiskey. It had been a clear evening, and laying in the clearing with Cas side by side, hands touching and gazing at the stars above them, Dean had never been more at peace here.

“Come on girl, we’ve got to go and get Cas back” he said as he mounted her, pulling her reigns and pushed her into a trot out of the barn. Before Dean had even gotten 50 feet out of the barn, Gabriel appeared in front of him.

“GAH! Christ Gabriel you nearly gave me a fucking heart attack! What do you want? I don’t have time, I have to _GO_ and you’re not going to stop me _-“_

“Ah ah, hold your horses” Gabriel snickered at his pun “I’m not here to stop you. I’m here to say that you bet your sweet ass you’re not going alone. That’s _my_ baby brother out there, and everyone else is too chickenshit to face dear old Luci. Well I’m not. I’ve had enough of his shit over the years to put myself into an early grave. Now fucking give me 5 minutes to get my own horse and we’ll go. Okay?”

Defeated and deflated, Dean nodded his head and gently pushed Baby towards the gate, intending to wait for Gabriel there.

Minutes passed, and Dean was beginning to become impatient. Just as he was about to leave alone, however, the sound of three sets of hooves got closer and closer, and Dean looked up to face Gabriel, Sam and Jo all saddled up and ready to go.

“Jo, Sam, what the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“Dean shut up. We care about Cas too, you know” Sam retorted

“Yeah Dean, like it or not, you’ll need us. Gabriel said Lucifer’s batshit crazy; you don’t want to get yourself killed, do you? No. You want what we all want; Cas back home, safe. Mom and Dad will look after Adam so don’t worry about him. Now-“Jo said, pulling her own horse round and heading up towards the now-open gate “Let’s go get Cas”.

With a nod, all 4 of them left the gates and rode into the forest, oblivious to what was to come.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> slightly longer chapter for you guys! hope that's okay, and i hope you enjoyed it.  
> getting a bit exciting now; thank you for keeping on reading!  
> comments and kudos give me motivation, so keep them coming!
> 
> i also am creating a playlist to go with this fic, which i will post with the last chapter.  
> enjoy!

_-Dean-_

“Dean! Wait up!” Sam called from somewhere behind him, but Dean didn’t care. He would do whatever it took to find Cas and get him home and safe. He pushed Baby forward, winding through the thick undergrowth of the forest. The deeper into the forest they went, the tighter the trees and thicker the vines and the harder it was to breathe or think or move. The air was heavy on the group; stifling even - causing a sticky film of sweat on their skin, dampening their hair.

“Can we all just stop for one moment, _please”_ Jo whined, earning her a grunt and a shrug of Dean’s shoulders.

“Right that’s it, Dean, so help me god I will _MAKE_ your horse stop in a minute” Hearing the serious tone of Gabriel’s voice, Dean slowed to a stop, patting Baby and turning the top half of his body around to find three angry faces looking back at him.

“What?”

“Dean, we haven’t stopped for water in hours and you’ve gotten us lost; we’re not even on the path anymore! We need to rest, it’s getting dark”. Sam had a point. They’d been riding for hours and with the steadily setting sun, it was harder and harder to keep to the path, and in the end Dean had been so blind with rage and fear and the strange empty feeling the lack of Cas in the Bond caused him, he had grown delirious in trying to get to him, giving up on the path and simply following a small stream.

“Sam’s right, we’re no good to Cas without sleep, how are we supposed to get him out, or fight, if we’re all bloody sleep deprived. Get your self-righteous ass off your damn horse and get some rest” Jo vaulted off her horse, a tawny golden creature with soft eyes that looked like they too were pleading for rest. Dean suddenly felt a pang of guilt. In his haste to get to his Soul Mate he had completely abandoned the notion of his family even having feelings.

He turned to Gabriel in hopes of apologising, and when he saw Gabe and Sam sitting oddly close together on a fallen log; he didn’t mention it.

They had stopped in a small clearing, the stream they had been following running steadily next to them. The area had become a clearing due to the fallen logs that created a small circle next to the stream, and Dean couldn’t tell if it was Human made, Angel made, or what.

 He didn’t want to think about the other option.

The group settled down for the night. They tied their horses to the surrounding trees, washing their faces with water from the spine chillingly cold stream, balled up their saddle bags in substitute of their pillows from home. Jo placed her bag directly next to Dean’s, and as he lay on his side watching her, she flopped herself down next to him, entwining their legs and throwing her arm over his waist. Dean smiled to himself and wrapped his arm over her shoulders and allowed her to snuggle into his chest, resting his nose in her hair; breathing in the familiar scent. His heart warmed at the gesture; it wasn’t something they had done for years.

After Dean, Sam and Adam moved into Bobby’s place, Adam insisted on sleeping in Sam’s bed in the “strange new place”. What Adam didn’t know is that he stopped Sam from doing what he did every night – making sure Dean didn’t hurt himself in his sleep from his nightmares.

He never knew what he dreamed about; all he knew was that it was to do with the fire that their mother had died in. With his position compromised, Jo had taken over one night when Dean’s screams echoed through the small house, waking Jo as the piercing sound permeated her room. The only way to get him to stop screaming, she found, was to get into his bed with him. There was never anything remotely sexual or romantic in the gesture; he was her brother and the second physical contact was made, Dean’s screams were reduced to whimpers and finally silence.

Tonight, as Dean hugged her closer to his chest, he wished the long golden locks were silky black tufts, and the soft curves of Jo’s body were the slender, muscular body of Cas.

 

 

 

_-Castiel-_

When he opened his eyes and for a second time was greeted by the sight of the dank room, he cursed himself for not having power. He’d never understood why his Grace wasn’t strong enough, because it would be damn helpful right now.

Due to his being alone, he decided to look around, see if he could see any means of escape, no matter how small it may be. Looking around, not much had changed since he was last conscious, except the absence of the strange man, but Castiel doubted that would last long.

To his prediction, the sounds of Castiel searching the room had drawn him back in, the sound of his footfalls doubling Castiel’s heart rate. The door swung open, and he knew that he had to get out. He had to get to Dean, no matter what. So he decided to play it tactically. Play along with whatever this man wanted, waited until he was left alone, maybe with less… chains, and flee. the ability to flee however was compromised, as when he moved he remembered what had cause him to lose consciousness before, and the small movement he made caused a fresh wave of blood to flow from the wound in his side. If his Grace was strong enough, he could have healed himself. Ever since he was a child however, he had relied on his siblings to heal him for him, if he ever got into any kind of trouble, which he tended to avoid, but accidents happen.

Sounding simple in his head, Castiel doubted it would go that smoothly.

The door swung open, and with the tattered angel came the putrid, acidic smell of blood. Castiel retched. He trembled at the familiar sight of his grotesque wings, bile rising in the back of his throat.

At his approach, he steeled himself.

“Ah good, you’re awake, again” The man grinned maliciously.

“W-Who are you?” Castiel was surprised to hear how weak he sounded.

The man stopped in his tracks, stooping forward and reaching his hand forwards to caress Castiel’s face. He was seriously going to be sick now.

“I’m so sorry, how rude of me. My name is Alistair. And _you,_ my sweet Castiel, are my newest play mate”

Castiel faltered, staring at _Alistair_ with wide eyes that were rapidly filling with tears. He’d heard of Alistair before, of course he had. Everyone in Bluemere had heard the tale of the First Angels, and of course; every Angel in Bluemere knew it wasn’t a tale. The Angels that had created Croatoa had built up their own army, consisting of other corrupt Angels, and of course the Darkness.

The Darkness were horrible beings, not human, not Angel, strange creatures that were seemingly human bodied, with dead, black eyes and clawed fingers, sharp teeth and leathery black wings.

To know that he was here, in a city that many people thought was nothing more than a tale, made his stomach turn and the tears in his eyes threaten to fall over the edge.

He was going to die here, if he didn’t figure a way to get himself out.

 

 

 

_-Dean-_

They had been riding for days. _Days._

The longer Dean went without Castiel, the more and more he felt like he was losing his mind.

It had been about 3 days, before Dean felt something pull at the back of his mind. He halted Baby, and just sat. Felt.

“Guys. GUYS”

“Dean? What is it? Why have we stopped?” Jo came to a halt beside him. Turning around, Dean noticed a similar look of shock, excitement and fear on Gabriel’s face.

“Will someone please tell us what the hell is going on?” Jo was beginning to get impatient.

“It’s him. It’s Cas” Sam and Jo turned to face Gabriel now, who had spoken from behind them.

“You can feel him too?”

“Of course I can. You two may have your magical Soul Mate bond, but he is my brother. An Angel? Yeah, has its perks. I can sense him too”

Without another word, Dean and Gabriel broke into a gallop in the direction that they could feel themselves being drawn towards. The further they went, the sparser the trees became, less and less leaves shielding them from the bright sun boring down upon them, leaving them exposed.

They rode at the quickest pace they had in the past 4 days; no stopping, no talking, no nothing. Just riding, to Cas.

They rode for hours, the sun slowly replaced by a sliver of silver moon, casting eerie light upon the group and the rode.

Eventually, they reached a wall. Not dissimilar to the wall surrounding Bluemere, except the sigils on the walls of their city were nowhere in sight. What looked like blood decorated these walls instead. He looked to Sam, who even in the moonlight Dean could tell was a pale shade of sickly green. Jo looked equally faint, and Gabriel just looked angry.

Tying their horses in the thickest part of the edge of the treeline, they began walking around the perimeter of the wall, trying to find the easiest and safest way in.

The buzzing in Dean’s head was the strongest it had been in days; he could feel Cas, but now he was so close, he was beginning to be able to pick out singular emotions.

“Fuck” Dean whispered, at no one in particular. He cursed himself for not protecting his Soul Mate.

He needed to get to him, no matter what.

 

 

 

_-Castiel-_

It had been four days.

Four relentless days, each day bringing Alistair and his tray full of torturous instruments, each bringing a fresh scream of pain from Castiel, a fresh wave of blood, a new prayer of Death to take him.

Dean was the only thing, the only thought keeping him alive.

Castiel had been sneaky. On the second day, Alistair had left the tray with Castiel, only for a moment. While his back was turned, Castiel reached out and silently took the most unobvious instrument on the tray, tucking it behind him, covering it with his dirty wing. A tiny, razor sharp blade with a small wooden handle, engraved with sigils that he didn’t recognize.

On the third day; Lucifer came to see him.

“Baby brother, how are you?”

“Fuck off, Lucifer”

“Now now, Cassie I’m disappointed. That Dean of yours has corrupted you”

“The only one corrupting me is _you,_ asshat. How could you let them do this to me?” He gestured to his slashed, bloody body, cloth shorts being the only item of clothing he was left wearing after Alistair had decided that his clothes were restricting his ability to ‘work’. His anger quickly dissipated into hurt and pain, though, as he began to cry. “I’m your brother, you’re supposed to love me, and you gave me up. For what, Lucifer? For power? Were you that desparate for the throne, you would let this happen to your own brother?”

Lucifer simply looked down upon him, and for a moment Castiel swore he could have seen a glimmer of hurt in his brothers eyes, a look that truly made him look like the loving brother he once had been. It went as quickly as it came; replaced with stone cold eyes and a hard expression.

“Yes.”

He left, slamming the door behind him. Castiel took the blade from behind his back, jamming it into the locks in his shackles, wiggling it around for what felt like an age, when finally; _pop -_ it opened, falling to the ground.

Hope swelled inside him, and he quickly placed it back on his wrist.

This was going to be easier than expected. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here's chapter 9!! (finally)  
> i hope you're enjoying it so far, don't forget comments and kudos keep me motivated!  
> i changed my mind quite a bit with where i wanted this story to go, so don't worry, we're a long way off from the end yet!  
> i love you all, thank you for reading and sticking with this!! i know this one was a bit shorter but i promise there will be a longer chapter next time
> 
> http://sassy-cassbutt.tumblr.com/

_-Dean-_

“Dean, just slow down” Sam tried to console his brother as he frantically paced up and down the walls, trying to find the easiest point of access.

“Dean, if you just stopped for a damn second-“

“Ahem”

Dean, Sam and Jo looked to Gabriel, who had a smug look on his face that Dean didn't know whether it should invoke excitement or fear within him.

“What is it Gabe? Unless it’s useful I really don’t care. We’re so damn close I can’t wait any longer” Dean was becoming hysterical, he knew it, and he hoped that Cas couldn't feel it through the bond. He didn't even know if Cas could feel him, despite the fact that Dean could feel Cas. Maybe he was warded against that kind of thing; wherever he was?

“Well, y’know, Halo Crowd and all that… I can get us in relatively undetected”

Dean looked to his siblings, who’s mouths had dropped open, but it was Jo who recovered the quickest.

“ _Relatively_ undetected? Care to elaborate?”

“Well Blondie, I can zap us in, but I don’t know how close I can get us, or how many black eyed bastards are going to be milling around, so yeah. Relatively undetected”

“What the hell are we standing here for then?” Sam went over to the horses, gathered everyone’s bags, checking for weapons, salt and holy water – things that the creatures of the Darkness feared. They were vital if they were going to be ambushed; the holy water and salt burned the foul creatures like acid, and the blades of their weapons were made from pure silver, engraved with sigils that Bobby had hand made himself. they were the only blades that could kill Demons of the Darkness. “Let’s go”

Sam threw everyone's respective bags to them, before coming to stand before Gabriel, putting his hand in his. Dean raised a questioning eyebrow, but dismissed it when Jo grabbed Gabriel’s other hand. Dean stepped forward to grab Sammy’s hand, seconds before he the surroundings he’d been in previously swirled and shifted in the moonlight, and changed into something wholly more sinister.

 

 

 

_-Castiel-_

He knew he wouldn't be able to last here much longer. He also knew he had a chance of getting out. It was all a matter of getting the timing right.

Castiel had lost track of how many days he had spent trapped in his cell, surrounded by dirt, rats, filth and his own blood. So much blood, creating dark, sticky pools on the ground all around him. The smell was cloying. He couldn't stand it any longer.

He had spent days being poked, prodded, sliced and skewered by Alistair, trying to find out what made him ‘tick’. In reality, that was him trying to find out why Castiel had never shown any signs of possessing angelic power. Maybe Alistair wanted to find it and keep it from himself. he didn't know, and he didn't particularly care.

The longer he spent in this place, the quicker his fear ebbed away and was replaced by anger. Solid, steely cold anger; bordering on murderous rage.

The first time he felt such strong emotions, he was shocked. Castiel knew he had never been one for such strong negative emotions. He had always had such a placid persona, the rage took him by surprise. Not that it was unwarranted, nor was it unwelcome. The new sense of anger helped Castiel build up the courage to devise a plan to get out, and get out fast.

“Dean..” he could feel him. Not in a physical sense, but in the back of his mind, their Bond was flaring with a burst of emotions. He doubled over, the sensations in his mind taking over completely, rushed bursts of emotions that had been absent from his mind the whole time he had been there, all flooding into his mind, filling his heart with warmth and a new sense of hope.

Dean was here, he had to get to him. Castiel looked to the small window of his cell, and the stars in the night sky shone brightly. He could see the silvery moon peeking out from behind the trees in the distance. As quietly as possible, he reached for his stolen blade and silently removed his shackles with an easy, practiced motion.

He stood swiftly, stretching out his arms, legs and wings, after being forced into a cramped position for God knows how long, he needed _freedom,_ and fast.

As he stood, being particularly careful of his wounds, his mind began to race. He missed his family, his home, his Dean. And that is exactly what he set out to do.

Creeping to the door with three small steps, he peered through the slats in the rotting wood. He could see no movement, and could hear no noise. He knew that it didn't necessarily mean that no one was out there, so Castiel reached for his blade, tucking it into the waist of his tattered shorts.

He tried to turn the door handle, but as he had suspected, it was locked. Taking his blade, he jammed it into the key hole and wiggled, and just like his rusty shackles, it opened with a soft _click_.

He opened the door slowly, wincing as the door creaked slightly; the movement made his stab wound throb unpleasantly. He peered around, his eyes adjusting to the light that was cast by flame torches lining the walls. Castiel rolled his eyes; he knew Lucifer was one for dramatic effect. The halls and rooms at home, back in Bluemere, were illuminated by the balls of light that the angels were able to manifest from pure energy. Castiel had never been able to produce one though, so Gabriel had created the one that hung above his bed for him. He missed it, and the feeling of home.

He padded softly down the corridor, thankful for whoever had taken his shoes before his arrival, for it made it much easier to sneak around undetected. Once he had reached the end of the corridor, he raced up the stone steps, only to find himself faced with two doors; one of which he could tell lead outside, if the cold night’s draught was anything to go by.

Hand on the door handle, wings drawn tightly into his body, he pushed the door open.

“CAS!”a familiar voice shouted, not one that invoked fear, but rather one that brought tears of happiness to his eyes.

“DEAN!” he searched the area, squinting his eyes in the darkness, around what he could only assume was some sort of courtyard. Before long, his eyes fell upon Dean, standing in front of Sam, Jo and Gabriel. The tears freely rolled down his cheeks now, mixing with grime and blood and God knows what else, at the sheer heartfelt gesture that they had actually _bothered_ to come for him.

As he began to run to his friends, his family, an icy cold feeling of terror shook down Castiel’s spine as Dean took a step toward him, and a shadowy black figure appeared out of nowhere behind him, but Dean hadn't noticed.

He stopped short, the look of euphoria on his face replaced by a blank stare as the creature laughed manically, disappearing as quickly as he came.

Dean fell to the floor, a jagged blade lodged in the side of his back.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my god chapter 10!?   
> i never expected this to be up so soon but hey, i'm clearly feeling generous  
> let me know how you like this chapter, and chapter 11 should be up relatively soon as well.
> 
> http://sassy-cassbutt.tumblr.com/  
> send me messages!! i love you all, thank you for reading!

_-Dean-_

When the world stopped spinning, Dean checked to make sure that everyone had made it there in one piece. On acknowledging this information, he peered around his new surroundings.

Croatoa was not unlike Bluemere, in the way that it was generally laid out, but it seemed smaller, the sense of freedom absent, the smell of death and decay present. His stomach turned at the thought of his perfect Castiel trapped here somewhere.

The castle of Croatoa was an exact mirror match to his own home. Turrets and windows in the same place, and Dean could see matching uncomfortable expressions on his companions faces.

He could see one difference however; there was a small door near the west wing of the castle that the castle in Bluemere didn’t possess. He walked towards the door, and as he got closer, he noticed a long forgotten feeling fizzling and bubbling in the back of his mind.

“Gabriel… Can you-“

“Feel that? Yeah”

Sam and Jo looked at each other with equally confused expressions, but it was Sam that spoke.

“Um guys? In case you’re forgetting… Me and Jo don’t have your freaky mind things with Cas so care to explain what the hell is happening?”

Dean ignored him. “Gabe is that-“

“Hope.”

The sound of a door creaking brought their attention rocketing back to the mysterious doorway. From it, Castiel appeared, and the sight of him made Dean feel like he had been stabbed straight through the heart.

Castiel had cuts and bruises covering his entire body. He was only wearing a pair of loose fitting shorts that were torn and filthy. He was covered in dirt and blood, and in the dim lighting, Dean could see Castiel’s hand covering what looked like a nasty cut – or an actual stab wound. Dried blood coated his body below the gash, the Angel’s wings matted and their usual bright glossy appearance replaced by dull, brittle feathers.

“CAS!” he yelled, and Castiel squinted through the darkness towards him, and the bright _warmth_ and _love_ that pulsed through the Bond was almost blinding.

“DEAN!” Castiel began running towards him, suddenly stopping; face turning stony cold and the happiness in the Bond suddenly turning icy and _wrong_ , wings flaring out behind him in a surprised manner _._

Dean didn’t have a chance to ask him what happened however; when he heard a collective gasps and growl-like sounds from behind him, promptly feeling a sharp, searing pain between his shoulder blades, before the ground was suddenly coming towards his face at a rapid pace, his head feeling as though it was in the clouds.

_-Castiel-_

“ **DEAN!”** Castiel ran from the doorway, flinging himself onto the body of his lover. He frantically searched around him. “Gabriel HELP HIM” he cried, tears running hot and fast down his face.

Jo screamed in complete and utter terror, while Sam seemed to be in some sort of trance. Jo’s screams quickly brought him back to reality however, and the pair surged forward to join Castiel at Dean’s crumpled body.

Gabriel quickly joined them, using his Grace to create a sort of bubble around the group.

“Cassie this is all I can do; I can’t do two things at once and I can’t risk more of us getting hurt” Gabriel looked at him with glassy eyes, and Castiel could feel his brother’s eyes rake over his own battered body, one of his hands still holding his own stab wound.

“Cas please, please help him” Jo sobbed, arms around Dean’s middle, she pulled him into her lap.

Castiel had never felt so helpless in his life. But the anger and the rage that he felt at the creature that had done this to him, created a fire in his gut that he could feel reverberating into his Grace.

Gabriel looked at him and quickly became slack-jawed, and Sam and Jo quickly followed suit.

He looked down to where his hand was placed over Dean’s back, where a faint blue-white glow was beginning to emit through his fingertips. In complete shock, Castiel made quick work of pulling the horrid, rusted blade from between Dean’s shoulder blades. He shuddered as he did so, the blood pooling in sticky puddles in the crevices of his back, coating his own hands in the sticky warmth. It made him feel faint. He didn’t know what was worse; this, or the fact that Dean didn’t seem to be breathing.

But the blue light was getting stronger. The stronger the emotions he felt, the loss, the grief, the sheer pain; all building up inside. Castiel could feel his Grace swelling with it. Looking down, he could see the same silvery light shining through his chest wound as well.

He looked to Gabriel, who was beginning to go red in the face from the exertion of holding the protective shield around them, so this was now or never. Sam dropped to his knees heavily beside Jo and Castiel, eyes red and nose running; Castiel had never seen Sam in such a state before.

He had always seen pieces of Dean within Sam. His boldness, his loyalty, his love for his family. But the sheer emotion on Sam’s face stripped him of the tough exterior he usually carried, leaving him exposed and vulnerable. This is what reminded him most of Dean.

He placed his right hand over Dean’s back, moving Jo’s hands slightly to gain better access. Instantly he felt the Bond at the back of his mind flare with such strong intensity that he felt as though he was momentarily blinded. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but he could feel his body temperature rising higher and higher, the light getting stronger and more intense with every second that past. He had to save Dean, he had come all this way to save Castiel after all; he couldn’t let him down.

“Close your eyes!” He yelled over the storm inside his mind, and the last the last thing Castiel saw was Sam, Jo and Gabriel’s dumbfounded expressions covered quickly by their arms - Gabriel shielding them with his wings from his own brother – before everything was enveloped in bright, white light.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! we're nearly there.. or are we?  
> keep reading, keep commenting and keep leaving kudos! feedback feeds the mind.  
> message me on tumblr, i'd love to hear what you think  
> http://sassy-cassbutt.tumblr.com/  
> i love you all! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

_-Castiel-_

When the blinding light subsided, Castiel squinted his eyes and looked to his rescuers. Sam was peeking atop his arm at the sight of the trio on the ground, Gabriel’s wing wrapped almost protectively around him. _Strange_ , Castiel thought, but he shrugged it off. He looked to Jo, who was gazing down at Dean, eyes wide and breathing erratically.

He realised that his hand was in fact moving up and down in time with a steady sound of breathing… wait, _breathing?_ Taking a deep breath he looked down to Dean, and sure enough his chest was rightfully rising and falling.

Jo scrabbled with rucking Dean’s shirt up his back, and where the gaping wound had once been, a messy, bright red scar was left in its place. Castiel would have compared it to what the ground would have looked like had a tree been uprooted and torn out of the ground; pulling up fresh earth with it as it went.

Castiel’s eyes filled with fresh tears of amazement. Gabriel was staring at him, lines around his eyes more defined in the moonlight as he squinted his eyes in confusion.

“Cassie, not that I’m not ecstatic that we found you or anything but care to explain how the _hell_ you did that?”

Castiel stared at his hands, faint buzzing still resonating in his fingertips, like aftershocks after an earthquake.

“I… I don’t know”

“Heart-warming guys, really, but can we please get my brother somewhere safe, Gabe? Like, NOW?” Sam pulled Jo to her feet, grabbing Dean under his armpits and hauling him up with her, blowing her choppy fringe out of her eyes, panting with the exertion.

Castiel quickly stood and reached out a tingling hand to help steady Dean, and the second his hand made contact with Dean’s shoulder, Castiel’s hand burned white hot and Dean’s eyes flew open, once steady breathing becoming erratic.

“Dean! Dean look at me, are you alright?” Sam yelled, moving to hold Dean up himself, shaking him slightly.

“Sammy…” he began groggily, eyes unfocused.

As swiftly as it had left earlier, five more smoke creatures appeared, surrounding the family, effectively trapping them, cutting of Gabriel’s protection.

“DEAN!” Castiel shouted at the same time that Gabriel shouted “SAM!”

Gabriel grabbed Jo and Sam’s arms, causing him to let go of Dean in his surprise. Before he could realise what was happening - and he did realise; too little too late - Gabriel disappeared without a trace, just a distinct ruffling of feathers.  Castiel surged forward to capture Dean’s again crumping body, before he looked up, stomach dropping.

Lucifer sauntered out of the doorway that Castiel had crawled from not 10 minutes ago.

“There you are Cassie dearest, I thought you’d gone and left me. And how considerate of you to bring another toy for Alistair” his wide grin caused utter terror to manifest in Castiel’s stomach. It was bad enough just him, but the thought of Dean being hurt by that _monster…_ Castiel would rather die than let that happen.

With a snap of his fingers, Castiel saw his lover all fall to the floor, before succumbing to the darkness himself, as if Lucifer had made it so that he had to watch the one he loved fall before him.

 

 

 

_-Dean-_

Well damn.

Dean had been the happiest in days, even seeing Castiel in the horrific state he was send the butterflied that laid dormant in his stomach since Castiel left into a fluttering frenzy. Then it all went wrong when he couldn’t see him anymore, only cool, blackness.

**

Floating in the dark abyss, he wondered what he had done to deserve this. He spent his time pondering this, before a searing pain, as if he had been poked with the brandishing iron that he used when he helped Bobby make new tools for the Guard, had been held against his shoulder. It caused so much pain he was ripped from the darkness and thrust straight back into consciousness.

It only lasted a matter of moments however, before he greeted the darkness once again, like an old friend.

**

 The next time Dean’s eyes fluttered open, he was in an unrecognisable place, wrists bound together with rusted iron shackles, held above his head and chained to the wall, probably in the most uncomfortable manor that could have been managed. Figures.

Across the small space between them, Castiel’s face broke Dean’s heart all over again. He didn’t look scared, he looked… fed up. Like he’d done this before.

Oh god.

Dean realised, that he _had_ done it before. This is where Cas had been the whole time. Rage boiled in his gut and he wanted to tear Lucifer’s wings from his body.

“Dean…” it was Gabriel who spoke, somewhere to Dean’s left. “DEAN!”  it was a hushed whisper, and he understood.

“Gabe? Where are you?”

“Bustin’ you out of course”

With a click of Gabe’s fingers and a mischievous smirk, Dean and Castiel both found themselves once again in the spot where they had been just minutes ago. At least, what Dean _thought_ was minutes ago. Who knows, it could have been hours. He hasn’t really been all that with it recently.

“Right, let’s try this again, preferably without getting caught again?” Gabriel raised his eyebrows.

“Oh yeah like we so totally planned all this. Wait, what actually happened to me back there?”

“Cassie didn’t tell you?” Dean turned and looked at Castiel questioningly.

“You died, Dean. And I brought you back to life” Ah, of course. What else would it have been?

“Gabriel, where is Sam and Jo?” Cas elected to ignore his question.

Gabriel explained that after Lucifer had shown up, he had tried to get all of them back outside the walls of Croatoa, but thanks to Sam dropping Dean in reaction to Gabriel suddenly grabbing him, the connection was broken, leaving both Dean and Castiel the wrong side of the wall.

“Let’s get out of here, and get it right this time. No getting caught” Dean barely had time to register Gabriel winking at him, before grabbing his and Cas’ arms, before the world started spinning again and the there was no ground beneath his feet.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! seriously, we are nearing the end of this story's journey. i expect 2 - 4 more chapters, and then it will be over! i hope you've enjoyed reading it as i have writing it. if you find any errors just let me know and i will correct them as soon as possible.  
> message me and let me know if you like it so far!   
> i love you all.  
> http://sassy-cassbutt.tumblr.com/

_-Dean-_

When the world stopped spinning for the hundredth time that day; Dean was pleased to find himself the right side of the wall. Granted, yes he was covered in blood, Castiel was covered in a mixture of his own blood as well as Dean’s; Gabriel was looking slightly dishevelled, but apart from that otherwise completely fine.

“Cas, I’m not going to lie, your brother is an absolute _monster”_ placing his hands either side of Cas’ face, he gently kissed each bruised eyelid in turn. “I won’t let him get to you again”

Castiel began violently trembling; from the lack of clothes and slight chill in the air or the emotional anxiety and shock of being kidnaped and tortured by his own brother, Dean suspected a mixture of the two. He sat Castiel down on the dusty ground, shucked off his outer jacket and wrapped it around Castiel, before walking over to wear Sam, Jo and Gabriel were gathered around the horses.

“We need to get back as soon as possible guys” Sam was talking.

 “Hold up guys, I have one last thing I need to do” Gabriel said from somewhere behind them. Dean swivelled his body around to find him cutting into the soft flesh of his forearm, a deep wound that let out a stream of bright red blood.

“Gabe what the Hell?” Sam’s concerned voice filled the air.

Gabriel just shushed them, dipping two fingers into the blood, and proceeding to use it like ink, to draw a complicated sigil on the outside of the wall of Croatoa. Once he had finished, he coated his entire palm with his blood and uttered a quiet incantation in what Dean presumed to be Enochian. His voice was barely above a whisper, but Castiel looked up with wide eyes.

“Cover your eyes” it was Gabriel’s warning this time, as he slammed his palm against the freshly-drawn sigil. Bright white light filled the night sky, and Dean could feel the ground trebling, the air around him thick with power and energy.

Shouts and cries brought his attention to within the walls of Croatoa, where he could see black smoke billowing into the sky, but could sense no heat; no fire. Nothing like the black smoke that filled his nightmares.

“What the hell did you do?” Jo stormed over to Gabriel, jabbing a finger at his chest once the light had died down. Gabriel just laughed and batted her away with his wing.

“I think you’ll find Joanna Beth, that I just used a very old, and very powerful banishing spell. All the demons of Croatoa? Gone. Poof” he exaggerated the word with his hands. “Well, at least until Alistair or Lucy realise what’s happened and tries to bring them back. But right now we really need to go, because when they _do_ find out, they’re gunna be pissed”

Everyone nodded in agreement and retrieved their respective mares. Dean led Baby over to where he had left Castiel, extending his hand with a gentle smile. Castiel quivered, taking his hand. Dean pulled him into an upright position in one easy movement, and then swiftly jumped up onto Baby’s back. He leant down to pull Castiel up in front of him, settling the smaller body in front of him, getting as close to him as possible in order to share as much body heat as he could without hurting his wings, which were partially wrapped around his body.

The mere sight broke Dean’s heart. Castiel wasn’t some feeble being, too delicate to look after himself. He had proven that in the last few days, so seeing him look so broken tore Dean’s heart to shreds.

Dean kicked at Baby with his heels, and she began trotting forward, and with Dean’s guidance, back towards Bluemere; to safety.

 

 

 

_-Castiel-_

They had not been back on track to Bluemere for merely two minutes when they heard deafening screams.  Castiel wished that the person that the screams belonged to still made him quiver with fear; but it would be a very long time before even the _mention_ of Lucifer’s name wouldn’t cause him to fall into complete terror and despair.

The small group looked around them, searching for the source of the sounds, and it wasn’t long before they found what they were looking for.

Not far ahead of them, laying on the path, Lucifer lay bloody and beaten, innards being held in by his own desperate hands clutching at himself.  Castiel steeled himself, waiting for what would happen next.

“Bro…ther… help… me…pleas..e” His tormented voice only brought memories of what he had done to him for all those days, all those sleepless nights. Castiel could feel Dean’s grip around him tighten, and he leaned back into the touch. The warmth, the feeling of _love_ and _care_ in the Bond was all that was keeping him going.

Gabriel dismounted his horse, motioning for the others to stay put.

“Brother.. I am…so… so sor..ry…” he cut off, choking on a mouthful of his own blood.

“No brother, I am sorry. Sorry that this is what became of you. You tore apart your own family, and for what? For power? For love? No. You did it because you were selfish. I knew what I was doing when I banished the demons from Croatoa. I also knew that the incantation would turn them against you just before they were banished. I am sorry, brother. But this was your own doing” With that, Gabriel pressed two fingers to Lucifer’s forehead, and the broken coughs and wheezing breaths ceased, his chest falls stilling.

Gabriel stood, tears falling down his face as he faced his family.

“Let’s go home”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're so nearly at the end! thank you for sticking with me this far, i hope you've enjoyed it!
> 
> http://sassy-cassbutt.tumblr.com/

_-Castiel-_

Numb. That was the only was Castiel could even begin to imagine how he felt.

After days of torture by his own blood, the same brother had brutally died, right in front of him. Castiel felt as though there was a lump in his throat, blocking his airways that no amount of swallowing could get rid of, and no amount of coughing could shift. He couldn’t speak, nor could he make a sound, the only things passing his lips small whimpers or groans of pain rumbling in the back of his throat.

The family continued riding, Castiel pressed to Dean’s chest, siphoning the warmth that he radiated. Sometimes, he would choose to sit behind Dean, wrapping his wings around the two of them, cocooning them. Castiel liked this, he liked knowing Dean was here and that he could still protect him, keep him safe and out of harm’s way.

He would switch it up every few hours or so, liking being able to protect Dean, but bouts of anxiety causing him so quake and breathe so rapidly he saw black spots and thought he would fall from Baby. These were the times that Dean would insist they swap; wrapping his arms around Castiel’s slighter frame, making sure he stayed upright, and being careful of his stab wound.

Castiel had thought of asking Gabriel to heal it for him, but felt that the two of them had been through so much, physically and mentally, that he would be too exhausted to do it. That and the fact that after 3 days, Castiel still hadn’t uttered a word. Dean of course was worried. Castiel could sense it – he wouldn’t be surprised if everyone could tell. But the priority right now was getting home. They could help each other and reconcile their feelings once they were all _safe_.

The constant vibrations of feelings in the back of his mind had become Castiel’s source of communication with Dean. He had tried hard to hide his feelings of fear, or worry from Dean, but of course that didn’t last long, and Dean had in turn stopped hiding his own emotions, allowing each other to wash waves of _calm_ over each other during the day, and during the nights where the nightmares wracked their brains and tore them from unconsciousness. Dean would reach across whatever small space there was – if there was any – to wake Castiel from his nightmare to soothe him, or request soothing himself, and their bond would settle the both of them, feeling _loved_ and so cared for.

 

 

 

_-Dean-_

It was taking longer to get to Bluemere than it had taken to get to Croatoa, probably due to their horses being tired after being worn to death after Dean’s insistence that they barely slept, so that they could get to Cas as fast as possible.

But now, they were safe. They could take as long as they wanted, because nothing mattered now. They just needed to get home, so that they could sort everything out, but their family was together, and they were going back to join the rest of it minus one, but that was probably for the best.

They were about 2 and a half days before the familiar sight of Bluemere graced their eyes again when things started to feel… weird.

Dean could have sworn that the feeling of being followed had been haunting him since they left Croatoa, and when Lucifer fell he thought it would have been over, but since then, it had only gotten worse. Judging by Sam, Jo, Gabe _and_ Cas’ twitchiness, he guessed they could feel it too.

It wasn’t long before they found out what was really happening.

A day before they were due back to Bluemere, they had stopped to rest by the stream they had followed to get to Croatoa, enjoying the hot summers day. Sam and Gabriel were splashing around in the stream in their underclothes, laughing and joking, while Jo lay out in the afternoon sun with her trousers rolled up to her knees and her undershirt; eyes crinkling as she shielded her eyes from the sun, watching the pair and laughing with them. Dean laid flat on his back, arms behind his head, Cas laying adjacent to him with his head resting on Dean’s bare stomach. He absent-mindedly ran his fingers through Cas’ wings, gently untangling them after the generous scrub-down he had just given them.

 The stream had been the perfect opportunity to wash off the dirt, blood and memories of Croatoa, but Cas seemed adamant on waiting until he thought he was far enough away from that god-awful place before he was satisfied they would all be safe. Dean had no problem in going along with him, as long as Cas feels safe, he was happy.

As relaxed as Dean had been, he still couldn’t shake the feeling of something being _off._ But maybe he was imagining things, looking around he could see that everyone else was completely oblivious. Jo had gone back to bathing in the sun, looking practically asleep, and Sam and Gabriel were continuing their splash fight, laughing and joking. Cas was napping against Dean’s abdomen, nose twitching in an adorable way. He resisted the urge to lean forward and kiss it.

***

A rustling in the trees, a snap of twigs and Jo screaming.

Dean’s eyes flew wide open and tried to adjust to the change in lighting. It was getting later in the day now, and the late summers sun had caused the group to finally relax after the stress before.

Cas sat bolt upright with eyes wide and Dean was soon to follow. Sam came running towards them, Gabriel nowhere to be seen.  That’s when Dean saw him.

A sight worse than Lucifer, a bloodied, mangled Angel stood behind Jo, pulling her upright by her ponytail. He held a jagged blade to her throat, and his blood ran cold. He remembered the blade, but couldn’t place where he’d seen it before. The Angel’s wings were disgusting. Dark red feathers; matted and clumped together, greasy, with patches where it looked like they had been pulled out, and that wasn’t the worst of it. They looked as though they were being torn off. They didn’t hang right from his back, and blood dripped onto the floor behind where he stood.

He looked to his Mate, whose breathing had become extremely rapid and the only feeling he was getting from the bond was _fearfearfearfearfear._ It gave him a crippling headache, he knew this wasn’t good.

“Alistair” Everyone gasped in shock as Castiel uttered his first word in days.

“Cas, you know him?” Dean reached out and took Castiel’s hand, trying to calm him, as well as himself.

The Angel – _Alistair –_ gripped Jo’s hair a little tighter, causing her to gasp sharply. “Me and Cassie here know each other very well, don’t we?” His nasally voice sent shivers down Dean’s spine, and he didn’t like how he was looking at Cas... at his stab-wound-scar.

Then it hit him; this had been the bastard that had done this to him, to torture him. He stepped forward, and the Angel spoke again.

“Now, now Dean. You took my playmate from me. Can’t let you have all the fun, can we now?” Alistair adjusted his grip on the blade, Jo looking wildly from Dean to Cas to Sam, a silent plea for help. The Angel winked, and before anyone could move, he drew the blade quickly across Jo’s throat, painting a red grin across her neck.

Dean felt sick, faint, _furious._ He leapt forward to attack, hurtling himself at the monster, not hearing anyone or anything except the blood pounding in his ears. Blinded by rage, he didn’t even see Gabriel knock him out the way, before placing his hand on Alistair’s head, causing blinding white light to emit from the bastard’s eyes and mouth, lighting him up from the inside, burning him up into nothing but dust and ash.

Breathing heavily, Dean crawled over to Jo’s cold, lifeless body, drawing her up into his arms, rocking her gently and sobbing into her soft blond hair.

“SAVE HER” He shouted.

“Dean…” Sam choked, his eyes red rimmed and glassy.

“He can’t” Castiel’s gravelly voice spoke, and god Dean was never going to get used to hearing him talk again.

“Why? You saved me, you can save her” He sobbed desperately. He looked to Gabriel, who was crying silently too.

“I don’t have any kind of bond with her. Castiel had a bond with you, I have a bond with all my brothers, but I don’t have a bond with her. I can’t save her. No one can. I’m so sorry, Dean”

Dean wasn’t listening anymore. His little sister was gone. He sat for what felt like an age, Jo’s blood soaking into his skin, and he wondered how many more people he had to loose before he even got home. Everyone quickly got dressed from their earlier down time, and Sam went to untie the horses from where they were tethered, snorting softly.

He gathered Jo’s body in his arms and mounted Baby. Sam and Gabriel mounted their respective horses; Castiel mounting Jo’s. They rode in solemn silence until the gates of Bluemere were in their sights once more.  


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is it! the second to last chapter!  
> i'm contemplating writing a sequal or some short time stamps after i've finished this fic, so let me know what you think. i also have a few ideas for new fics that i'm excited to start writing. let me know what you think/have thought of this story!  
> sorry for the short chapter, i didn't want to drag this out too much. i love you all, thank you for reading!
> 
> http://sassy-cassbutt.tumblr.com/

_-Dean-_

The four of them rode up the cobbled path towards the gate, shrouded with silence and a veil of sorrow.

The closer they got to the city, the heavier Dean’s heart felt. How would he tell Ellen or Bobby? He cradled Jo’s body in his arms a little bit tighter, breathing in her floral scent that still clung to the silky blonde strands of her hair. Childhood memories that clung to that scent filled his mind and broke his heart, the tears welling in his eyes falling steadily down his face.

They reached the gates and the patrol Guard Garth opened them with a shout:

“The prince! He has been returned!”

People came flocking towards them, excited shouts and cries filling the air.

“Make way for the King and Queen!”

“Get out of the way!”

“Let them through!”

The crowd parted swiftly, Chuck, Naomi, Ellen, Bobby, and the rest of Castiel’s family hurried towards them. Expressions of joy and relief soon twisted into contorted expressions of horror at the group’s blood stained clothes and Jo’s limp body clutched desperately to Dean’s chest.

Ellen’s pained scream reverberated through him to his very core. He knew this would be bad, and judging by Sam’s face, he had been expecting this too. Dean dismounted Baby slowly, careful not to drop her. Ellen and Bobby sobbed as they pulled their daughter from his arms, placing her gently down on the ground, Ellen placing Jo’s head on her thighs as she sat on her feet, arms draped over her daughter’s unmoving chest.

Bobby sat at her side, hands gently stroking her now-pale face ads tears of grief torrented down his face. Adam came rushing round the crowd that had gathered, his innocent face crumpling as he fell to the ground beside his sister.

“Jojo?” he whimpered, pressing his face into her stomach. Dean crouched beside his youngest brother, wrapping his arms around him in a secure embrace, breathing in the scent of child-like innocence. Sam came over to join them, joining in the grieving, the crying and the comforting of each other, placing a comforting hand against Dean’s shoulder.

 

 

 

_-Castiel-_

The second they passed through the gate and Garth announced their arrival, Castiel’s Mother and Father came rushing through the crowds to meet them.

“Hello Mother, Father” he muttered, as he was dragged unceremoniously off Jo’s mare by his Mother’s surprisingly strong arms. She began fussing over his wings, straightening and fixing the stray feathers. Her eyes fell upon the many lacerations covering his body, and the still-gaping stab wound atop his ribs.

Anna rushed forward then, sweeping him into such a tight embrace he was sure he had suffered more broken ribs. When she too noticed the wound, she shrieked, reaching out a hand as if to heal him.

“Stop, Anna”

“Castiel do not be brave, let me heal you”

He pushed her hands away again, looking to Gabriel for support. Gabriel just winked, and held out his hands in a grand gesture.

“Show them for yourself, Cassie”

Without a second thought, without trying to think about it too hard, Castiel placed a hand to his own chest, breathing in deeply and trying to recall the utter terror and urgency he had felt before he had miraculously healed Dean. He had done it before, and he could do it again. After a few seconds, he felt a familiar building sensation starting at his very core, spreading to his fingertips and the ends of his toes. His body felt alive and when he looked down again, there were no wounds to speak of.

No memories left of Lucifer or Alistair’s torture, only fresh, healed skin. He glowed in comparison to his brothers.

His family looked upon him with wide-eyed shock.

“Castiel…” his mother breathed, looking completely taken aback by the sudden turn of events.

“What on earth?” Anna was equally surprised.

But Castiel wasn’t worried about them. The smug look on Gabriel’s face was enough for him for now. He would have time to explain later. But right now, just over Gabriel’s shoulder, Castiel could see his lover and his family huddled on the floor, shielding their loss from the gathering crowds. The feeling of  _loss_  and  _grief_  in the Bond was too much for Castiel to bear. Yes, of course he too was deeply hurt by the loss of a sister, but he knew it was nothing, not a speck on what Dean and Sam were feeling, let alone Ellen and Bobby. His heart ached for them.

He walked over to where the family embraced, crouching behind Dean and wrapping his wings around him in a protective manner. He looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder, suddenly faced with the bright white of Michael’s wings.

“Castiel” he breathed, pulling him up into a tight hug.

“Michael” Castiel clung to his brother like a lifeline.

“What of our brother?” Michael’s voice broke, and Castiel wasn’t sure if it was due to the fear of the answer or the mention of their traitorous brother.

Castiel turned to face the gathered crowd, wings spreading wide as he addressed his family, and his people.

“Lucifer has fallen. Lucifer is dead”


	15. Chapter 15

Jo’s funeral was held the next day. It was a rather spectacular turn out, Jo was well loved and over half the city turned up to commemorate her. The entirety of the Guard was there, and all of the children that her and Dean had helped to train. Everyone was dressed in dark mourning colours, Ellen, Naomi, Anna and Charlie donning black veils that hid their faces. During the speeches made by Sam, Ellen, Bobby and Chuck and Naomi themselves, Charlie leaned heavily on Dean’s shoulder, sobs wracking her body. He held her upright with a secure arm around her shoulders, his other hand clutched desperately in Castiel’s as his own tears ran down his face.

“We thank Joanna Beth Harvelle, for courageously venturing out to Croatoa to help rescue our dear son Castiel. Her loss leaves a gaping hole in our family, one that won’t easily heal. But her memory will live on in our hearts. Thank you Joanna, for all you have done” Chuck addressed the crowd, voice breaking slightly at the end of his speech. He turned to Michael, who handed him a flaming torch with a hard expression.

Charlie turned her face into Dean’s chest as Jo’s body lay atop the wicker grave was ceremoniously set ablaze, so that her soul could be released back into heaven and joined by the Angels once more. Castiel squeezed his hand, and Dean allowed a small smile to creep onto his face. Ellen and Bobby were wrapped in each other’s comforting arms, and Dean’s extended, winged family all held hands, heads lowered solemnly, wings drooping and dragging on the floor.

***

The weeks wore on and the pain slowly ebbed away bit by bit. The simple things helped Dean to move on from his loss. As Leader of the Guard, he spent most of his days training new recruits, and in the evenings after practice, the castle gates would open and the children from his old village would flood in, excited to show Dean how much they’d practiced in the past few days, eager to show him their new moves.

Instead of Jo there to help him train the kids, Michael stepped in to help, which Dean appreciated greatly. Not that he didn’t love the work, but trying to control 30 odd excitable children was a chore unto itself, let alone trying to teach them battle moves. Michael brought an air of calm to the sessions, which reduced the stress greatly, allowing Dean to pass on his knowledge to the best of his ability. It also proved a great way to have some brotherly bonding time with Michael.

Adam sometimes joined in too, desperate to go on amazing adventures “just like his big brothers”. His enthusiasm warmed his heart. Sammy would often watch these sessions from the Window room’s view, with Cas in tow, telling him and explaining Dean’s moves when Cas had questions. It was endearing to Dean how much of an interest Cas had in his interests and his hobbies.

Cas became a set feature in Dean’s daily routine. Not that he hadn’t been before, but since his Soul Mate’s kidnapping, Dean had become protective. He admitted to himself that he was probably being over-cautious, by making sure that as had someone with him at all times, and had expressed this to Cas, who simply shook his head with an affectionate smile, reaching a hand to caress Dean’s face.

“I know why you do it. Had the positions be reversed, I would do exactly the same, if not I’d be worse” this admission made Dean chuckle, thoughts of Cas constantly behind Dean, piggyback style, his wings wrapped around them in a protective manner.

Lost in thought, Dean didn’t realise Cas sneak up behind him as he stood by the window in their bed chamber, watching the sun set over their city. He jumped as a tanned pair of arms snaked their way around his waist, felt a smile pressed to the nape of his neck and soft feathers tickling his upper arms. He felt hot puffs of breath on the skin just behind his ear and shivered, twisting round in his mate’s grip to press chest to chest with him. Cas stood on his toes and closed the space between their faces, pressing hot feverish kisses to his mouth. Dean opened his mouth to allow their tongues to tangle together, before pulling back, resting their foreheads together and breathing heavily.

“I love you”

Cas hummed in contentment, eyes fluttering shut as he pressed his face into Dean’s collarbone. They stood like that for what felt like an age; pressed tightly together and feeling each other’s heartbeats through the thin fabric of their tunics. Cas lifted his head and tugged on Dean’s arm until he complied and followed him to where he shuffled into the centre of their bed, pulling back the covers and snuggling into the warm depths of the duvet. Dean grinned and followed him, burying them in the confines of the covers.

“Do your thing” Dean whispered into the darkness. He heard Cas huff a laugh, before his eyes glowed a bright white and the Dean could see around the darkness in their makeshift cave. He grinned in glee and pulled Cas towards him, pressing their lips together again.

“I’m never gunna let you go, not again”

“Never” Cas mumbled, eyes growing heavy before finally drifting shut. Dean waited until Cas’ breathing evened out and begun intertwining his legs through Dean’s like vines, tethering them together.

_‘This is it’_ He thought, as sleep began to overcome him at last.

‘ _We’re safe. I’m home’._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this it it! we've finally reached the end! i hope you enjoyed reading this as i enjoyed writing this. feel free to message me with your opinions n stuff!
> 
> the playlist for this fic: http://8tracks.com/sassy_cassbutt/the-darkness-over-bluemere/edit
> 
> my tumblr: http://sassy-cassbutt.tumblr.com/
> 
> i love you all!


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